Expected savings from Phase II EVR Equipment

Expected savings from Phase II EVR Equipment:

Although the state deadline to upgrade to Phase II EVR equipment is seeming to come at the most inopportune time, there may be some peace of mind in knowing that there is an expected savings from the volume of fuel that would otherwise be lost as vapor. Manufacturers have claimed that operators can expect product savings in the range of 0.15% to as high as 0.6%. This may produce enough savings, even at the lower figure, to pay for the cost of the upgrade itself.

For the Healy Clean Air Separator, savings could be from .015% to 0.25% of liquefied product. This could potentially produce a savings of 250 gallons for every 100,000 gallons of fuel dispensed.

With the average California station pumping about 1.3 million gallons of fuel per year, this potentially vents 10 tons of hydrocarbons into the air each year. This is the equivalent of losing 3,000 gallons of product per year. At only $2.50 per gallon, that’s $7,500 of lost revenue, each year.

Steve Lee is an Equipment Finance Specialist at a leading financing company, First Star Capital (http://www.firststarcapital.com/ ). Steve is a frequent contributor to online publications and newsletters, and is the author of this blog on commercial financing topics.

There Is No Excuse

The Air Resources Board is reminding California’s service station owners that they must upgrade vapor recovery systems on their gasoline pumps by April 1, 2009. The deadline is fast approaching, and less than 15% of the 11,000 gas stations are currently in compliance.

The state has invested millions of dollars into this initiative. There will be no exceptions with respect to this deadline:

"There's no excuse for not meeting the deadline - people know it's coming, the technology to comply is there and the public health benefits are easily quantifiable. Penalties for missing the deadline will not only cost operators, but delay clean air for many regions of the state." -- ARB Chairman Mary Nichols

Financing is becoming harder to obtain during these volatile economic times. Please begin your prequalification process immediately to secure your financing…it may not be there come 2009. Banks are increasingly calling lines of credit used for EVR upgrades, due to the high amount of soft costs involved and because the equipment is essentially non-revenue generating.

Steve Lee is an Equipment Finance Specialist at a leading financing company, First Star Capital (http://www.firststarcapital.com/ ). Steve is a frequent contributor to online publications and newsletters, and is the author of this blog on commercial financing topics.