PG&E Bull

[Thousand Oaks CNGer]

I want to write to someone who might be able to change the draconic measures that are in place with the "state mandated procedures" in filling at a PG&E station.

I wanted to travel to Carmel from LA, but I would have to refill for my return at the PG&E station in Salinas or San Ruiz. I think the closest public was San Jose which is 75miles away(to the north).

They want you to fill out paperwork and go through training. Wait months. (I know everyone already knows all about this.) There are no PG&Es near me, and I am not driving North just to get trained.

CA is really out to lunch on this. Put a dang meter with a visa/mastercard reader on it and stop blocking the south from reaching the north.

Anybody know who to write???

[PaulH]

Re: PG&E Bull

It is true that you will need in-person training, but I faxed them an application and they called back the next day to schedule the appointment. They will give you the card at the end of the training. Perhaps you could schedule an appointment during your trip. The in-person training is a bit of a pain, but PG&E has placed stations in many strategic and formally unserved areas in the San Joaquin valley, central coast and Bay Area so it is difficult to drive through the Valley or up the Coast without a PG&E card.

[Adrian]

Re: PG&E Bull

I want to write to someone who might be able to change the draconic measures that are in place with the "state mandated procedures" in filling at a PG&E station.

I wanted to travel to Carmel from LA, but I would have to refill for my return at the PG&E station in Salinas or San Ruiz. I think the closest public was San Jose which is 75miles away(to the north).

They want you to fill out paperwork and go through training. Wait months. (I know everyone already knows all about this.) There are no PG&Es near me, and I am not driving North just to get trained.

CA is really out to lunch on this. Put a dang meter with a visa/mastercard reader on it and stop blocking the south from reaching the north.

Anybody know who to write???

I stated on my application I was already trained by watching the Clean Energy video associated with fueling at CE sites and was also trained by the FuelMaker Phill installer back when I had a Phill installed and as such did not require training. They sent me a card in about 3 weeks.

[OptimaCNG]

Re: PG&E Bull

I sent in my application last Friday. They called me on last Monday to schedule in-person training today and my PG&E card is on its way. I talked the the trainer today asked about that issue and he said that's the policy, unless you can prove to them you got those training before might be they will bypass it. I like PG&E stations in Nor Cal because price is reasonable/fixed for a month (at least cheaper than CE) and safe (some stations need card access). Good luck!

[freedml]

Re: PG&E Bull

It's totally ridiculous. No one but PGE requires an in-person training and everyone else manages to operate the dispensers safely.

[echamberlain]

Re: PG&E Bull

PG&E's CNG program was an "experimental" trial program put in place decades ago.

The other private suppliers of natural gas, have fought any attempts to expand the program. They don't want to have to compete with an IOU.

If you want to change the program, complain to the PUC.

[John Mitton]

Training mandatory in CA?

Is training really mandated by state law? If so, why is there no training video at the Ontario station (one of my favorites when visiting S. California, 3000 psi but the price is great!!)?

[Lakewood90712]

Re: PG&E Bull

5 or 6 years ago , Before video screen dispensers were common , Socal gas, and Pickens Fuel Corp. required training as policy.

Long Beach Gas did not, IIRC (cngmike would know for sure) . But the lady at Long beach was sure to tell you about video survealiance at the stations, and "If you driveaway and damage the hose, WE WILL KNOW who did it and send a large bill!). Long beach gas was the only stations you could be 99.9% sure of.

During the same era , you could rent a cng civic or crown vic from "EVRENTALS" . Every car had a Socal gas / Pickins card, a Pinacle card, a Fleetstar card , and a PG & E card. NO TRAINING AT ALL. Strange thing was , PG & E worked at Long Beach Gas , but Socal gas card would not not.

Long Beach Gas was $0.99 / gge in the summer at that time , socal gas was commody cost + $ 0.37/therm . The good ole days.

[cngmike]

Re: PG&E Bull

The City of Long Beach viewed at the fueling sticker on each side of their dispensers as meeting the training requirements. Also that during business hours there was some one able to provide assistance. When we started selling to the public in 1991 are price was $0.89 per 100 cf. I think it was 1994 when we switched to $0.98 a GGE. It was 1998 that we started setting our price by following the commodity cost.

[gastronaut]

Re: PG&E Bull

My understanding is that California OSHA regulations requires that the operator (person fueling a CNG vehicle) successfully demonstrate 3 complete fueling cycles before they are considered "trained". Some fuel providers may have permission from Cal OSHA to provide alternate training methods but PG&E requires face to face training to meet this requirement.

I agree that this is a pain in the but however PG&E will not likely change its current policy.

PG&E's CNG program exists to serve PG&E vehicles and customers are allowed to purchase excess station capacity. This means that PG&E is not motivated to invest in technology that would increase sales or make the process easy for the customer.

Hope this helps to explain why.