CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Kanawha Valley Regional Transportation Authority and more than four dozen other governmental offices and agencies are going to pay less for gasoline and diesel during the next two years after new fixed price contracts were signed Thursday.
The KVRTA Fuel Task Force bids out the fuel contracts every two years. The new deal with Savannah, Georgia-based Colonial Fuels will drop the price of diesel by roughly three cents over the next two years from the current $1.98 a gallon to $1.95 a gallon. The new contract calls for a gallon of gas to drop from the current $1.76 a gallon to just more than $1.64 a gallon over two years.
“We’re real excited,” KVRTA General Manager Doug Hartley said. “For the next two years we’ll actually be spending less on fuel than we did the previous two years.”
The authority’s KRT buses use the most fuel. Hartley said it’s around 700,000 gallons of gasoline and 500,000 of diesel annually.
The contract also covers the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department, Kanawha County Ambulance Authority, county offices and just about any local government office or agency that operates vehicles. The City of Charleston was also part of the bid opening. It’s going with two contractors to meet its fuel needs. The city will also pay less for fuel, Hartley said.
Having a fixed price contract helps with budgeting and provides assurance, Hartley said.
“We are guaranteed our delivery of the fuel uninterrupted. We are able to provide fuel for different agencies throughout the county so they don’t get an interruption of fuel,” Hartley said.
The new contract goes into effect next week. Hartley said Colonial Fuels will purchase the fuel from local depots and the refinery in Catlettsburg, Kentucky. .