Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ:CLNE) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Greg Wasikowski: Okay. I’m not going to ask you for exact numbers. But is it fair to say then that when we look out into 2025 and 2026, the delta between your revised estimates for those years is smaller than, looking at 2023. Kind of rate front of us right now. Is that fair to say?

Robert Vreeland: Yes, that’s fair to say.

Greg Wasikowski: Okay, that’s helpful. And then one more if I could just, I think it was mentioned in your prepared remarks about competition for the Amazon sites. Can you maybe elaborate on that a little bit more things, things outside of just permitting. What competitive forces for MLA and whether that is decided?

Andrew Littlefair: Greg again, if what I competition maybe you thought of competition to build natural gas and RNG fueling, that’s not the kind of competition. This is just pressure on real estate competition.

Greg Wasikowski: What kind of scarcity as to the type of property.

Andrew Littlefair: And what kind of properties cities want in their city?

Greg Wasikowski: Okay, okay. So, though it’s not, it’s not others kind of doing this. Not others to do the same thing that you’re doing. It’s just, different uses for the land in general.

Andrew Littlefair: Exactly, exactly.

Greg Wasikowski: Got you. Okay, cool that’s helpful. Thanks a lot guys. I’ll pass it on.

Andrew Littlefair: Yes, you bet. Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from Pavel Molchanov with Raymond James. Please proceed with your question.

Pavel Molchanov: Thanks for taking the question. I know you are not giving guidance formally beyond 2023 but you said that you expect California LCFS pricing to improve over the next two years. What gives you the confidence in that directionally?

Andrew Littlefair: Yes Pavel, what gives us the confidence on it is that the low carbon fuel standard working. And RNG is an important component of it. And I think that we feel fairly confident, certainly after the workshop of the 22nd, that all of the comments were supportive of an increased obligation curves, increasing the obligation and compliance curves from 20% to 30%. And I think there’s a chance that they could go to 35%. And then, there’s this new concept that they’ve now the staff has actually endorsed, which is kind of a ratchet that if you’re in an oversupplied market, that they can ratchet down the supply the compliance curve. So you could kind of theoretically go from 30 to 32. So I think all of that is you’re going to need all the RNG you can get. So I think you’re going to be back in a much more supportive environment for increased price.

Pavel Molchanov: Okay, let me ask a similar question about RIN, which I think for the year as a whole RINs were as large as the tax credit, and California combined. The EPA seems to be kind of rethinking the entire, RVO framework, including, these electric RINs that that are being discussed. What’s your thinking directionally on where that goes?