After a highly-successful initial three-year term that saw more than $13 million in revenue generated for Orange County Transportation Authority (“OCTA”), the Board of Directors for OCTA (the “Board”) has approved the first two-year term extension with Element Markets Renewable Energy, LLC (“Element Markets”) under the parties’ renewable fuel credit management services agreement. Accordingly, Element Markets will continue to manage all aspects of OCTA’s portfolio of Low Carbon Fuel Standard (“LCFS”) credits (“LCFS Credits”) and Renewable Fuel Standard (“RFS”) renewable identification numbers (“RINs”), from generating, marketing and selling the RINs and LCFS Credits resulting from OCTA’s use of renewable fuel to power its fleet of more than 600 compressed natural gas (CNG) buses to managing OCTA’s compliance with the LCFS and RFS programs. The agreement was awarded to Element Markets in March 2016 on a competitive basis and had an initial three-year term with two, two-year extension options and an initial revenue obligation of $8.9 million. Element Markets surpassed the $8.9 million revenue obligation in 2018, well ahead of schedule.
“We have truly enjoyed working with the OCTA staff on this mutually-beneficial opportunity and are pleased to have been extended under the agreement. Not only have we generated substantial value for OCTA, well in excess of initial targets, but we have also assisted in achieving some of the meaningful sustainability goals that OCTA has in place,” said Angela Schwarz, President & CEO of Element Markets.
According to the staff report cited by the Board in extending the agreement, the arrangement has also provided, “very positive results” for OCTA. It has not only been a significant source of revenue to offset OCTA’s fuel costs, it has also been the means of reducing OCTA’s fleet emissions by more than 91,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent—the equivalent of keeping approximately 19,500 passenger vehicles off of Orange County’s roads for an entire year.
About Element Markets
Element Markets is a leading renewable natural gas marketing and environmental commodities company that applies its diverse environmental expertise to provide structured environmental compliance and optimization services to prominent corporate and institutional clients. The company has a long history within the emissions, carbon, renewable energy credit, renewable natural gas, and renewable fuel credit markets. Element Markets is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Element Markets, LLC, and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. More information about the company is available at www.elementmarkets.com.