This could be the year, not if NatGas stays under $2. A bit from the transcript
The second pillar and one that sets us apart from virtually any other company is that Clean Energy has the leading network of RNG distribution stations in North America, which enable our customers to achieve their low-carbon goals by supplying RNG to their fleets. Many of our stations are strategically located on important trucking corridors with public fueling access for existing and future customers. And that number is growing with the opening of stations where Amazon operates as our anchor customer. Some of our stations are customer-owned, where we provide services and suppliers.
The third pillar of our business is how we work with our customers in many ways beyond just the sale of fuel. This includes education on the benefits of RNG and achieving emission goals, product procurement, operational support, station construction and servicing facility modification and navigating the complex world of sustainability reporting public policy and grant applications. Clean energy is also the largest distributor of third party RNG production to the transportation industry by our customers with RNG from over 100 different production sources. We are the largest off-taker and the business cannot be more pleased to extend our network and our service offerings to a vast group of fleets that will soon be able to adopt RNG vehicles.
Thanks to Cummins new X15 and engine, which is a catalyst for our growth feedback from the fleets operating the test units of this engine has been very positive. Back are as recently opened the order book for trucks equipped with the x15N. and commercial deliveries are expected in the early part of the second half of the year for OEMs have said they will follow suit and by offering the new engine in their models, the largest segment of the trucking market will soon have access to and RMG solution. And this could not come at a better time for our industry and costs. Rng as a transportation fuel is becoming more mainstream. During the last quarter, our customer base volumes grew with fleets that operate in the ports of L.A. and Long Beach like Lincoln transportation services, ecology, auto parts and cross border Express with transit agencies such as nice bus and Long Island and multiple refuse operator and hot off the press. We recently signed an agreement with SeaMex, one of the largest concrete companies in the world to fuel 40 of their cement trucks. The RNG industry recently not that significant victory with the Mexico passing legislation to status establish a low carbon fuel program. We believe this demonstrates the acceptance of these programs as a good way to address emissions issues that continue to expand. There are positive signs that other important states in the Midwest and Northeast could soon follow.
Three years ago, we established our fourth pillar with the formation of joint ventures with BP and Total Energies to invest directly in RNG production facilities at dairies in the U.S., we did this because we believe in RNG as a long-term solution and our industry needs more RNG to meet growing demand, saw an opportunity to invest our capital at attractive returns in these projects while augmenting the third party RNG supply.
I just mentioned, and we are doing just that today, Clean Energy has invested $238 million of our capital into these joint ventures and another $35 million of our own funds in the future. Our energy dairy projects, six projects have completed construction and are operating are at or are in final commissioning. New projects are in or near construction and we continue to evaluate others in our pipeline. Seeing these projects online is no small feat fires, complex engineering, construction operations and regulatory approvals. The world needs this ultra low carbon fuel and our industry needs to produce it more efficiently. We have the right platform and the right partners to take on this challenge. And we are on the path to achieving improvements in project cost and time. Bob will go into more detail. But when these projects come online, they have a ramp up period of about nine to 12 months where the project is producing gas, but not yet monetizing federal and state environmental credits. This brought five projects coming online at the beginning of this year. This ramp up period will have a negative drag on our financials in 2024 until we can monetize the RNG produced with environmental credits used to virtually store R&G until the regulatory pathways are certified to maximize revenue from environmental credits. This will create a lag in revenue recognition while operating costs are being recognized at the time we produce the renewable gas. This is an accounting and regulatory feature of our industry that we want investors understand and should not detract from our successful completion of dairy RNG projects, all producing ultra-low emissions, fuel that we supply to our customer. This is also more amplified as we are starting from zero in the upstream production of RNG. As we bring more projects online, the glaring financial startup impact should be muted by projects operating at full financial capabilities. And the first pillar of our business strategy is the fact that we have a strong balance sheet to fund our continued growth in both stations and RNG projects. In December, we announced a $400 million term loan facility with Stonepeak, $300 million was funded at close and an additional $100 million can be drawn by us for a two year commitment period. We have secured the capital needed for our next phase of growth, and we are pleased to be partnered with a well-respected infrastructure investment firm like Stonepeak, our existing station footprint is well positioned to support additional volumes from new customers. We also expect opportunities to expand our network with new stations strategically positioned for our customers like our stations, we have built to benefit Amazon over the last three to four months. We've opened two stations for heavy-duty trucks in Texas, filling California, a second one in Ohio and others around the country, bringing the total in 2023 to 18 purpose-built stations. Amazon continues also utilize over 75 other Clean Energy stations on any given day.
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