The Senate’s new energy bill, if it passes, should help to catalyze the transition from crude oil to natural gas, Cramer said Wednesday, and plenty of companies should benefit.
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There’s Westport Innovations and its partner, Cummins , which make engines that run on cleaner fuels like compressed and liquefied natural gas. Fuel Systems Solutions makes all kinds of parts for nat-gas vehicles. And Clean Energy Fuels designs, builds and operates nat-gas fueling stations, especially for the kind of heavy vehicles that this legislation will subsidize.
Clean Energy, in particular, is a Cramer favorite. In the third year after the legislation takes effect, there could be another 100,000 heavy-duty trucks, fueled by natural gas, on the road, in addition to an extra 100,000 medium-duty vehicles to boot. That’s because the bill offers a rebate of between $15,000 and $20,000 on each truck per year, giving truck buyers an incentive to choose nat gas over other fuels. And that’s without taking into account the dollar per gallon they will save just for using compressed or liquefied nat gas instead of diesel.
Cramer said the bill could translate into over 1 billion gallons of additional demand for natural-gas fuels annually – and maybe as much as 1.5 billion by that third year after passage. Compare that to the 101-million-gallon market that Clean Energy served in 2009.
Think of the bill as annuity for Clean Energy, Cramer said. More nat-gas trucks on the road, plus an increase in the manufacture of these vehicles, give rise to an ever-growing fleet that constantly needs to return to Clean Energy’s stations to refuel.
The Senate could vote on the bill as soon as next week, and Cramer thinks that would be a major catalyst for CLNE. To drill down on the finer details, and find out what this means for the company going forward, Cramer invited CEO Andrew Littlefair to the show. Watch the video for the full interview.
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