Clean Energy Fuels Corp.

Greetings and welcome to the Clean Energy Fuels first quarter 2019 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Mr. Bob Vreeland, Chief Financial Officer. Thank you, Mr. Vreeland. You may begin.

Thank you, operator. Earlier this afternoon, Clean Energy released financial results for the first quarter ending March 31, 2019. If you did not receive the release, it is available on the investor relations section of the company's website at www.cleanenergyfuels.com, where the call is also being webcast. There will be a replay available on the website for 30 days. Before we begin, we'd like to remind you that some of the information contained in the news release and on this conference call contains forward-looking statements that involve risk, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Words of expression reflecting optimism, satisfaction with current prospects, as well as words such as believe, intend, expect, plan, should, anticipate, and similar variations identify forward-looking statements, but their absence does not mean that the statement is not forward-looking. Such forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of performance and the company's actual results could differ materially from those contained in such statements. Several factors that could cause or contribute to such differences are described in detail in the risk factors section of Clean Energy's Form 10-Q filed today. These forward-looking statements speak only as the date of this release. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements or supply new information regarding the circumstances after the date of this release. The company's non-GAAP EPS and adjusted EBITDA will be reviewed on this call and exclude certain expenses that the company's management does not believe are indicative of the company's core business operating results. Non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to results prepared in accordance with GAAP and should not be considered as a substitute for or superior to GAAP results. The directly comparable gap information, reasons why management uses non-gap information, a definition of non-gap EPS and adjusted EBITDA, and a reconciliation between these non-gap and gap figures is provided in the company's press release, which has been furnished to the SEC on Form 8K today. With that, I will turn the call over to our President and Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Littlefair.

Thank you, Bob. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. I'm pleased to report that the company's operating and financial performance continue to improve through the first quarter of this year with a 12% increase in volume, 7.5% growth in revenue, and improvement in operating and net income when excluding the alternative fuel tax credit from last year and the non-cash adjustments from 2019. Also importantly, the initiatives that we began over a year ago to strengthen our balance sheet continue to pay off as we end the quarter again with cash and investment succeeding debt. Our volume grew over 10 million gallons quarter over quarter as we delivered a total of 95.2 million gallons with our Redeem renewable natural gas making up over half of that volume increase. Our core business of refuse and transit saw growth as did our subsidiary NG Advantage and we're optimistic that the heavy duty trucking market will contribute to that growth later this year through our Zero Now financing program. I know there's been a lot of interest in this program. I'm pleased to report that we've begun to sign up fleets that are taking advantage of the offer to lease or purchase heavy-duty trucks. These trucks are equipped with the latest natural gas engine technology for the same price as a diesel truck and operate it with a fuel that is renewable and significantly cleaner but comes at a lower cost. As I explained on our last call, unlike what you hear from others, we are engaged with fleets that are ready to take delivery of trucks. which is different than simply putting down a deposit for a concept truck that won't be ready for delivery for years. Through our Zero Now program, we have agreements with multiple firms which are leasing or purchasing new trucks equipped with the Cummins Westport 12-liter ultra-low NOx engine and will be fueling at our existing network of stations with Redeem renewable natural gas. These companies include TradeLink Transport and Supra National Express which operate in operate in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where the latest Clean Air Plan continues to be implemented. Orders for new trucks were also placed through the Zero Now program by the largest bulk carrier, Keenan Advantage Group. Freight Line Express will be taking delivery of new trucks in Northern California, and after testing beta versions of the new CWI engine, TTSI has placed an order for an additional 40 trucks to operate in Southern California. In addition to these companies, we're in advanced negotiations with several dozen other fleets, which represent the potential of orders for hundreds of new natural gas trucks. The media limelight is currently placed on other alternatives like electric and fuel cells, including at the recent ACT Expo. But I'd like to quote one savvy analyst who has paid very close attention to this industry for many years. In his report after visiting the floor of the Expo, He wrote, quote, natural gas is the clear-cut leader in the clubhouse and what other technologies aspire to be, end quote. The trucking companies we have been speaking to are under pressure to meet lower emissions targets today while maintaining the performance of diesel, and the only solution available is natural gas trucks. They have seen the stories about recent rollouts of electric buses by a few transit agencies that have encountered serious operational issues. Like the lack of battery range, charging times, and ability to climb hills. Albuquerque Transit's agency experience was such a disaster, it sent back all the electric buses to the manufacturer, scrapped the program, and are in the process of ordering new natural gas buses. Transit agencies can easily experiment with electric buses because the federal government puts the bill for almost the entire cost. But trucking fleets don't have the luxury of the government covering such costly experiments. So while others are grabbing easy headlines with big promises of the fuel of the future with very few details, we're signing on trucking firms to a solution that tackles air quality and long-term greenhouse gas issues today, while giving them the performance they expect at a cost that is less than diesel. As I mentioned earlier, our core business continues to grow at a nice pace. During the first quarter of this year, we signed agreements with a number of transit agencies, including BC Transit, serving the Vancouver, Canada area, which will be introducing 60 new CNG buses that are expected to consume 720,000 gallons of fuel a year. We have built and maintained three stations for BC Transit. The City of Fresno renewed a contract for the delivery of an anticipated 6 million gallons of redeem to fuel 118 buses. The City of Santa Clarita signed for an estimated 1.9 million annual gallons for 126 buses. The Port of Seattle signed a contract that includes an estimated 400,000 gallons of CNG for airport shuttle buses. LAX Airport contracted for redeem to power 31 shuttle buses. Sun Metro in El Paso is adding 40 CNG buses that we will fuel. Los Angeles Metro signed with us to provide expected 4.8 million gallons of Redeem to power 41 new municipal buses over their life. And the County of Sacramento contracted for Redeem to operate a fleet of school buses and airport vehicles. Finally, the County of Orange Public Works Department signed a five-year fuel deal for an estimated 750,000 gallons of RNG. On the refuse side, we signed agreements for fuel and services in the first quarter with Livermore Sanitation in California. City of Tacoma, Washington, Alameda County, California, USA Hauling and Recycling in Waterbury, Connecticut, the City of Philadelphia, Calvert Tech Waste Industries, the City of Redlands, California, and the City of Sacramento, California. All in all, the first quarter of 2019 was very productive and reinforces our optimism about the future of clean energy and natural gas fueling. Our financial performance and balance sheet continues to improve. The acceptance of Redeem is accelerating, with existing customers switching from conventional natural gas and new customers are signing up for a renewable fuel that far exceeds climate change goals versus other alternatives. Our core business continues to grow, and the heavy-duty trucking market, which has been a tough nut to crack in the past, has begun to show signs of real progress. Looming stricter emission standards, higher diesel prices are now a way For heavy-duty truck fleets to get into a new natural gas fleet for the same price is catching a lot of notice from fleets that were previously reluctant. And with that, I will hand the call over to Bob.