Clean Energy Fuels buys Texas landfill gas plant

Seal Beach, Calif.-based Clean Energy Fuels (Nasdaq: CLNE) announced today that it acquired Dallas Clean Energy, operator of a Texas landfill gas plant, for $19.1 million in cash from Jersey, U.K.'s Camco International (LON: CAO).

Clean Energy, controlled by Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens, teamed up on the deal with Los Angeles-based Cambrian Energy, which owns 30 percent of Dallas Clean Energy.

"This is a major strategic action for Clean Energy, enabling our company to participate in using renewable biogas introduced into the pipeline system for our account along with traditional natural gas," said Andrew Littlefair, president and CEO of Clean Energy.

Pickens also has a big hand in wind power. Earlier this year, his Dallas-based Mesa Power made a deal to order 667 wind turbines from Fairfield, Conn.'s General Electric (NYSE: GE) as part of the first phase of a massive 4,000 megawatt wind farm to be built in Texas (see Mesa Power makes big order for GE turbines).

Under today's deal, Clean Energy gets the McCommas Bluff landfill gas processing plant, which is owned by Dallas Clean Energy. The processing plant opened last November and has a capacity of 9 million cubic feet per day.

"Use of biogas as a vehicle fuel has enormous potential to both reduce carbon emissions and reduce our dependence on foreign oil by displacing the use of petroleum fuel," said Littlefair.

The landfill, owned by the city of Dallas, is scheduled to close in 2042, but Clean Energy said it's estimated that the pipeline quality methane gas will continue to be produced for approximately 30 years after the landfill closes.

The company entered into a $30 million credit facility with Dallas-based PlainsCapital Bank to finance today's deal and for future capital improvements at the landfill.

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