New Oklahoma Rebates Intended To Boost CNG Vehicle Purchases

The state corporation commission approved several new rebates Monday to encourage the use of natural gas.

Oklahomans can get up to $2,500 in rebates for purchasing a CNG vehicle.

"It's all automatic, and this fills the car for $1 a gallon…" Tom Sewell, of Tulsa Gas Technologies, Inc., said.

Sewell is an evangelist when it comes to compressed natural gas.

He's always preached on price, and he believes new incentives will create new converts to natural gas cars.

"So there's $5,000 worth of incentives to buy this compressor," Sewell said.

Sewell's company sells home refueling stations for natural gas cars.

It also manufactures pumps for gas stations. Sewell said the company can hardly keep up with demand -- but it's mainly in other states and countries.

In Tulsa, there are seven public CNG filling stations, where the price beats gasoline every time.

Right now it's around $1.50 for the equivalent of a gallon of gasoline.

The new CNG rebates encourage people to buy new or converted CNG cars with a $2500 payment.

A converted or new bi-fuel car qualifies for a $1500 rebate.

And there's a $2500 rebate for a home refueling station.

Of course, the big advantage of natural gas, is the lower price per gallon. The big advantage of filling up at home is that it costs even less, since you're not paying full retail.

The new rebates are on top of all other state and federal tax credits and come as a direct payment from Oklahoma Natural Gas.

It's enough to offset the higher cost of a CNG car and make a home refueling system an affordable option. And it could be enough to get more CNG cars on the road.

CNG announced Friday that July 1 will be the first day they'll offer the new rebates. Check here starting July 1 for more information on how to apply.