Evidence of meeting #25 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 41st Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was propane.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Vice-President, Natural Gas Policy Development, Encana Corporation
We have about six or seven in Calgary, and an equal number in Edmonton. Absolutely.
Conservative
Ed Holder Conservative London West, ON
There just aren't enough in London, Ontario.
To be clear, what was the conversion for the automobile itself?
Vice-President, Natural Gas Policy Development, Encana Corporation
It is between $8,000 and $12,000 right now. I can't give you the pricing of the new products that are coming out in the OEM, because they are just an estimate.
Conservative
Ed Holder Conservative London West, ON
A number of years versus...that was the three-year period we talked about earlier. Thank you.
Mr. Poilièvre—
Vice-President, Natural Gas Policy Development, Encana Corporation
I have a graph for you on that.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
You said that there are now households in the United States that fill their tanks at home. What was the number of households you listed again?
Vice-President, Natural Gas Policy Development, Encana Corporation
I didn't. I don't have that figure for you.
Conservative
Vice-President, Natural Gas Policy Development, Encana Corporation
We might be able to. One of the associations I've asked to present to this committee is ANGA, America's Natural Gas Alliance. They may actually have that kind of data for you.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
Are you aware of any safety incidences or hazards that have manifested themselves at home in refilling?
Vice-President, Natural Gas Policy Development, Encana Corporation
No. It's just like your barbecue. Your shut-off valves and so forth are of a very high standard. It's a plug-and-play concept. We also have that in terms of the stations that we operate as well.
Conservative
Vice-President, Natural Gas Policy Development, Encana Corporation
It depends; you can have slow fill or fast fill. Most of our stations are fast fill, which means within three minutes. In slow fill, it may take you hours, depending on the size of your tank.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
You could just plug it in, go have dinner, and then forget about it until later. Does it have an automatic shut-off so that you can leave it?
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
Okay.
How do we deal with the chicken and egg problem? We can't get natural gas stations until we have an abundance of natural gas-powered cars, and we can't get natural gas-powered cars until we have stations. How does one overcome that self-defeating obstacle?
Vice-President, Natural Gas Policy Development, Encana Corporation
That's a good question. There are a couple responses.
In the U.S., at the state level, there are tax incentives for infrastructure to incent companies to go in. In Canada we've been looking at putting in our own stations to service our own fleets. There are a number of natural gas distribution outlets throughout the country, but the numbers have not been high. It will be that chicken-or-egg situation until there are more products and units operating on natural gas; then you'll get industry responding.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
Does your price advantage right now include the excise tax? You said there was a 25% or 30% price advantage for natural gas on a....
Vice-President, Natural Gas Policy Development, Encana Corporation
On a GGE, a gasoline gallon equivalent, you'll see that it's just on the price of the gasoline versus the price of natural gas, not including the excise tax. The same thing goes for diesel. Again, you'll see some numbers in my handout.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
Can either of you say that your fuel source is able to stand on its own and make market penetration without government subsidies or favouritism?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Merv Tweed
Great. Thank you.
I just have one question before we thank you.
You mentioned that California will have to go to all natural gas by 2015.
Vice-President, Natural Gas Policy Development, Encana Corporation
The executive order from the President was to have all of its government vehicles on alternative energy, including natural gas, by December 31, 2015. LA has gone completely natural gas for its transit authority, and the last diesel bus was taken out in January 2011.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Merv Tweed
How long would it take Canada to get to that same position, if we were to say that's the direction we wanted to go? Is it three years, five years? How much time does the industry need?