Sustainability

Managing Our Natural Resources for Future Generations

This is a time of rapid change for the utility industry, and the District is staying abreast of these changes as technology, efficiency and industry best practices evolve. One of the biggest changes in the industry is the growing awareness of the environmental impact of utility operations.

Since M.U.D.’s mission is to provide safe, reliable and cost-effective natural gas and water services to our community, we want to make sure these natural resources are managed well and protected for future generations.

Know that we are aware of the irony of our position: in our desire to help our customers conserve natural resources, we may end up selling less water and natural gas. The widespread changes in the industry demand this shift, and we are committed to finding ways to meet our commitments both to fiscal heath and to environmental responsibility. We also know that in pursuit of greater sustainability, we will never sacrifice quality, safety or reliability for our customer-owners.

We know from the calls and comments we receive that this issue is of high importance to our customer-owners. We share the value of making the Omaha metro area an even better place to live, work and play, and we are pleased to communicate the work we are doing in this area. At the same time, we know there is much more we can do. In coming years, we hope to report on even more exciting progress we can make as a utility that values sustainability.

Omaha Climate Action and Resilience Plan

M.U.D. is partnering with the City of Omaha to develop the Omaha Climate Action and Resilience Plan. The Plan will be a strategic roadmap that empowers our community to build climate resilience and strive for a more sustainable future. The Plan will provide comprehensive guidance on innovative solutions that will improve quality of life, build prosperity, enhance community resilience, and further climate justice.

The Plan will focus on strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, prepare for and adapt to climate impacts, and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through sequestration. The Plan will provide equitable actions for the City of Omaha, and the communities within, to implement over the next 30 years. M.U.D. will be part of the plan development process. For more information on the Omaha Climate Action and Resilience Plan, please visit omacap.org.

 

Walnut Hill EPA Brownfields Grant

Walnut Hill EPA Brownfields Grant

Media Statement – 10.24.2024

Metropolitan Utilities District is applying for a federal Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields Cleanup Grant to assist in funding the cleanup and future redevelopment of the western part of the Walnut Hill property located at 40th and Hamilton Streets in Omaha, Nebraska. These federal funds would offset the cost to M.U.D.’s ratepayers. The grant would be up to $4 million to:

  • Remediate and dispose of potentially contaminated soil.
  • Remove old reservoir structures, including the Walnut Hill Reservoir.

Once cleaned up, the land will be re-graded and prepared for sale. M.U.D. is working with a local consulting company to complete the environmental assessment and grant application before the mid-November deadline. Grant awards will be announced in spring 2025 and the funding period will begin on July 1, if successful.

Community Meeting

A community meeting was held Tuesday, October 22, 2024, from 6-7 p.m., at the Omaha Public Schools TAC Building-Board Room, 3215 Cuming St. There was a virtual option with Webex. Links to the Webex recording and the PowerPoint presentation are posted below:

Meeting Recording (On YouTube)

Presentation Slide Deck (Adobe PDF)

Feedback Form Closed

Public comments were accepted through October 31, 2024, and are now closed.

  • Sustainability Master Plan

    Since M.U.D.’s mission is to provide safe, reliable and cost-effective natural gas and water services to our community, we want to make sure these natural resources are managed well and protected for future generations.

    Read the Master Plan

  • Sustainability Report

    Several years ago we published our first ever Sustainability Report. We are taking many steps to make our operations more sustainable, and in this report you will hear our stories.

    This report represents a cohesive summary of the many efforts M.U.D. is taking across our organization to reduce our environmental footprint. Our goal is to present these efforts in one document so that our customer-owners, employees, directors and other stakeholders can understand our commitment to environmental sustainability.

    Learn More

Sustainability

  • How is CNG measured and priced?

    Compressed Natural Gas is sold in GGEs or gasoline gallon equivalents. A GGE has the same energy content (124,800 BTUs) as a gallon of gasoline. CNG is generally 15-40 percent less than gasoline or diesel. The District’s CNG rates are set on a monthly basis and are posted under Compressed Natural Gas. Rates for private fueling with compression done by the customer are generally $.50 cents less per GGE. These rates include all State and Federal road taxes.

  • Where in Omaha can you fill a car with CNG?

    There are currently two public stations in Omaha, 2615 S. 64th Street and 13233 Cornhusker Road. There are over 1,600 CNG stations nationwide.

  • How long does it take to fuel a vehicle with CNG?

    Typical “fast-fill” fuel stations, the kind used at public and large private stations, take approximately the same time as filling a gasoline vehicle, 3-5 minutes. Many of the fuel stations owned by individuals and smaller private fleets operate on a “time-fill” basis that varies according to the owner’s needs but can take several hours to fill a vehicle or fleet of vehicles- usually overnight.  A home-fueling unit typically fuels at a rate of just under ½ gallon per hour which works well for overnight fueling.

  • Are there other states that have public CNG fill stations?

    There are over 1,600 CNG fueling stations nationwide and more than half are available for public use. A complete list and map is available at: U.S. Department of Energy.  Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming all have public stations. There are also well developed networks of public CNG stations in Texas, Oklahoma, Utah, and California as well as on the East Coast.

  • Can you convert an existing vehicle to natural gas? If so, how much does it cost?

    While after market conversions are being done by a variety of companies in some states and other countries, the District strongly recommends using only the EPA certified conversions listed on the NGVAmerica list.  This is the best way to insure that the components and installation meet all safety standards. These conversions tend to be more expensive than non-EPA certified conversions (between $12,000 and $17,000).

  • How does using a natural gas vehicle reduce my carbon footprint?

    Exhaust emissions from a typical NGV are much lower than those from gasoline-powered vehicles. Dedicated NGVs produce little or no evaporative emissions during fueling and use. In gasoline vehicles, evaporative and fueling emissions account for at least 50 percent of a vehicle’s total hydrocarbon emissions.

    Typical dedicated NGVs can reduce exhaust emissions of:

    • Carbon monoxide (CO) by 70 percent
    • Non-methane organic gas (NMOG) by 87 percent
    • Nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 87 percent
    • Carbon dioxide (CO2) by almost 20 percent below those of gasoline vehicles.

    Natural gas vehicles also produce far less urban emissions than diesel vehicles.  For example, even when the stringent 2007 EPA heavy-duty engine emission standards become applicable, NGVs will be producing only one-sixth the NOx of comparable diesel engines.

  • How far can you travel on a tank of CNG?

    The Chevy Express van with the extra tank option has a range of up to 350 miles. Bi-fuel CNG vehicles that can switch to gasoline have a virtually unlimited range because of their ability to switch to gasoline when CNG is unavailable. CNG tanks are expensive and take up vehicle space, so increased range does come with a trade-off.

  • How many miles do you get to the gallon on CNG?

    Because a GGE of natural gas has the same energy content as a gallon of gasoline CNG cars get basically the same miles per GGE as gasoline-powered cars get per gallon.

  • How many natural gas vehicles are there in Omaha?

    There are over 350 CNG vehicles in the Omaha area including the District. Worldwide there are over 15 million natural gas vehicles but only about 150,000 in the United States.

  • How much more does it cost to purchase a compressed natural gas car?

    Light-duty vehicles cost $5,000 to $10,000 more than their gasoline-powered counterparts. Those “incremental” costs can be offset by State and Federal incentives and by the fuel savings.

    Other light and medium-duty vehicle conversions can cost $10,000 to $15,000. Several states also offer additional incentives such as rebates or tax credits. Check with your local area to see what incentives are available. The District does offer CNG vehicle rebates and will consider project incentives for other fleets considering CNG vehicles on a case by case basis.

  • How were the CO2 emissions calculated on your website?

    Electric emissions were obtained from the EIA eGRID 2006 report. The emission data for natural gas was obtained from the EPA Clean Energy Calculations and References as 117 lbs. CO2/decatherm.

  • What is CO2?

    Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a colorless, odorless, non-combustible greenhouse-gas that contributes to global warming. It is formed by complete combustion of fossil fuels (coal, charcoal, natural gas, petroleum) and carbon containing products (such as wood). It also is released through respiration by living organisms and by the gradual oxidation of organic matter in soil.

  • What is the difference between dedicated and bi-fuel natural gas vehicles?

    Dedicated vehicles are designed to run strictly on natural gas. Dedicated Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) vehicles are built from the manufacturer to run only on natural gas while dedicated conversion vehicles have the gasoline or diesel fuel system removed or de-activated. Bi-fuel vehicles can run on either natural gas or gasoline. Dedicated vehicles generally run slightly more efficiently when running on natural gas than do bi-fuel vehicles because the engines are adjusted to run solely on natural gas.

    Dedicated vehicles are limited by the range of the particular vehicle and work well for local fleets that return to a fueling site regularly or commuter vehicles that do not require an extended range. Bi-fuel vehicles work well for vehicles that occasionally need to travel beyond the range of fueling stations.

    Conversion costs for dedicated or bi-fuel vehicles are typically about the same. However, bi-fuel vehicles did not qualify for the previously available Federal tax credits. There is pending legislation before Congress that could reinstate those incentives and possibly extend them to bi-fuel vehicles as well. Details of the currently available vehicle incentives are at: http://www.ngvamerica.org/incentives/federalTax.html.