Obama Spending Money On Natural Gas Powered Truck Fleets: 25 Projects Funded With $300 Million In August 2009: DOE Clean Cities Program Up and Running

• On 7:21 pm EDT, Wednesday September 30, 2009

67 WALL STREET, New York - September 30, 2009 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Alternative Energy/Clean Energy/Power Generation/Utilities Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This 83 page feature contains expert industry commentary through 23 in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, Equity Analysts and Money Managers. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.

Topics covered: Long Term Perspective on Alternative Energy Industry -- Leading Indicators for Alternative Energy Components Companies -- Mergers and Acquisitions in the Alternative Energy Industry -- Break Even Business Fundamentals for Carbon Free Energy Providers -- Development of Carbon Free Energy Production Infrastructure -- NAT GAS Act -- New Players in the Alternative Energy Industry -- Solar Power Cell Manufacturers Market Strategy -- Demand Response for Raw Materials for Solar Cell Production -- Alternative Energy Investment Opportunities -- Multiple Stock Winners in Carbon Free Production Industry -- Government Funding of Alternative Energy Power Providers -- Chinese Solar Energy Companies -- Alternative Energy Hedge Fund Investors -- Commodity Cycles -- Determinants of Market Valuations in the Alternative Energy Production Industry -- Carbon Emissions Statistics -- Energy Efficiency Statistics -- Innovations in Solar and Wind Power Generation -- Business Economics for Methane Based Power Generation -- Electric Vehicles Projections and Statistics-- Cap and Trade Projections and Statistics -- Development of Battery Technology -- Regulatory Environment Developments for Solar, Wind, and Alternative Energy -- Hybrid Vehicles Development and Sales Projections

Companies include: Tanfield (TAN.L); Smith Electric Vehicles U.S.; Valence (VLNC); Spire (SPIR); Newport (NEWP); MYR Group (MYRG); Primoris (PRIM); Tetra Tech (TTEK); EnerNOC (ENOC); Comverge (COMV); EnergyConnect (ECNG.OB); Calgon Carbon (CCC); and Ener1 (HEV); Westport Innovations (WPRT); Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE); Fuel Systems Solutions (FSYS); FuelCell Energy (FCEL); FEI Company (FEIC); Veeco (VECO); ATandT (ATT); Landi Renzo (LR.MI); Teleflex (TFX); Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A); Wal-Mart (WMT); Pepsico (PEP); FuelMaker; Chevrolet; GM; Honda (HMC); Itron (ITRI); Siemens (SI); American Superconductor (AMSC); GE (GE); and ABB (ABB);

In the following brief excerpt from just one of the 23 interviews in the 83 page report, industry experts discuss the outlook for the sector and for investors.

Eric Stine is a Senior Research Analyst with Northland Securities, where he focuses on investment opportunities within clean technology and alternative energy. Mr. Stine has been in the securities industry since 1994. He joined Northland Securities in 2007 and his current coverage list includes companies focused on alternative fuels and vehicles, distributed generation, energy-efficient products and water efficiency. Prior to joining Northland, Mr. Stine was a Senior Equity Trader with Miller, Johnson, Steichen, Kinnard and R.J. Steichen. He holds a B.S. in finance from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Robert Brown is a Senior Research Analyst in the equity research department at Craig-Hallum Capital Group LLC, where he covers alternative energy and cleantech companies. Mr. Brown holds a B.S. in aerospace engineering from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management. He is a CFA charterholder.

TWST: Eric, what are some of the specific stimulus projects you believe will benefit alternative energy companies in the near future?

Mr. Stine: All of the companies under my coverage definitely are impacted by the stimulus, certainly the size of the stimulus and the timing of the stimulus. Funding is very noteworthy, specifically for alternative fuels and vehicles. Funding for the DOE Clean Cities program probably is the most significant. It's $300 million, which is allocated to the Clean Cities program with the goal to advance the number of alternative vehicles on the road. And that includes all technologies, electric, hybrid, biodiesel, ethanol, but also propane and natural gas. On Aug. 26 the DOE did make those grants, $300 million for cost-sharing programs that funded 25 projects. A very significant amount of those projects involved propane and natural gas. In the past, the Clean Cities program is one that has received funding, but nowhere near this $300 million level. To me it's a pretty clear political signal that natural gas and propane are looked at as part of the answer going forward.

TWST: Eric, what are some of the most interesting infrastructure buildout projects that will have the biggest impact on the alternative transportation sector?

Mr. Stine: Certainly, what makes it noteworthy is the amount of funding and the number of vehicles. But I think maybe overlooked to an extent are some of the infrastructure aspects and also the involvement of national fleets. If I had to point out one of the projects, it's probably the UPS (UPS) Ontario Las Vegas LNG Corridor Expansion Project. What this will do is connect existing LNG fueling stations in Southern California to some that are being built in Utah. Specific to UPS will be a station in Las Vegas in support of their deployment of 48 LNG trucks with additional trucks to follow. Clearly, infrastructure is something that's been a limiting factor for the industry and the increased use of CNG, but more so LNG. And so certainly infrastructure buildout is important. I also think it's noteworthy that you've got a high profile fleet like UPS. There's another project, the J.B. Hunt (JBHT) LNG Truck Project, where they're going to deploy 262 heavy-duty LNG trucks. I think fleet involvement is very important. It's been an overriding theme in my discussions with fleets and particularly the smaller-owner operators that in the short term, they are trying to get through and survive this economic environment, which has been very difficult in the trucking industry. But in the long term, they're looking to the large fleets to gauge where the industry is going. So UPS, J.B. Hunt and you've got Wal-Mart (WMT), who's testing small numbers of natural gas vehicles. That would go a long way in the development of the industry.

TWST: Rob, do you expect to see some greater scrutiny of the companies as they're getting the more public policy support in the form of stimulus dollars?

Mr. Brown: I don't think you will see greater regulatory limits. But I do think you will see adjustments to regulations to make them work for the way the industry is developing. For example, there needs to be some standardization of the regulatory structures around vehicle emissions regulation. In some cases there are multiple regulator authorities that have different requirements, which serves to limit the ability to roll out alternative fuel vehicles in a cost effective way.

TWST: Eric, do you share that view?

Mr. Stine: I do share that view, and I would say it's more scrutiny on Corporate America. As companies have to deal with their carbon footprint and their emissions, often the easiest way to do that is through your transportation fleet. So it would be just more regulation on the end user than on the companies that I cover.

TWST: Eric, with the companies getting increased public policy support to help speed the adoption of alternative fuels, what else do you think the companies themselves could do to speed that adoption?

Mr. Stine: Well, one of the things is continually trying to be part of the legislative process and just further their position. As Rob said, I agree with streamlining the process on the certification side. Especially on the light-duty side of the market, getting engine and alternative fuel systems certified has been very, very difficult. Until that changes, I think that development of this market is hindered. Along those lines, I also think trying to continue to penetrate national fleets is important. Clean Energy (CLNE) and Westport (WPRT) specifically are working together on a national fleet sales initiative, where they're targeting 20-plus fleets. These are some of the largest fleets, ones that we would all know, trying to get those companies to go past just testing a handful of vehicles, to increase testing of more vehicles, to get more comfortable with it from a usage standpoint and maintenance standpoint to further the industry in that way. Also OEM involvement on the heavy-duty trucking side is crucial, getting a lot of the OEMs to have natural gas heavy-duty trucks. I think that goes a long way, and Westport has made quite a bit of progress on the OEM side.

The Wall Street Transcript is a unique service for investors and industry researchers - providing fresh commentary and insight through verbatim interviews with CEOs and research analysts. This 83 page special issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online .

The Wall Street Transcript does not endorse the views of any interviewees nor does it make stock recommendations.

For Information on subscribing to The Wall Street Transcript, please call 800/246-7673

Buzz up!