The Colorado Energy Office, in partnership with the Regional Air Quality Council and the Colorado Department of Transportation (DOT), has chosen four new compressed natural gas (CNG) station locations under the third round of funding from the ALT Fuels Colorado grant program.
The CEO launched the third round and started seeking bids in early June. As the agency explained at the time, the grants go exclusively toward the purchase of equipment for developing CNG stations, with up to $500,000 awarded to each successful application. Installation and other associated costs are not covered by the grants.
According to the CEO, the ALT Fuels Colorado grant program is designed to remove barriers to the adoption of alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) by addressing the current lack of fueling infrastructure. To date, the CEO has issued awards for 15 CNG stations in the state.
The winning developers and station locations of the third funding round, which is now closed, include the following:
- Ward Alternative Energy – Henderson, Colo.
- Sparq Natural Gas – Rifle, Colo.
- VNG.CO – Denver
- Trillium CNG – Gunnison, Colo.
“The program's newly awarded locations illustrate a more comprehensive picture of Colorado's rapidly advancing statewide system of publicly accessible, fast-fill compressed natural gas fueling stations,” comments Wes Maurer, transportation program manager at the CEO.
Additionally, the CEO notes awards were made for co-located electric vehicle charging and propane autogas fueling stations at three previously awarded sites in Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley.
Through the Federal Highway Administration's Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) program and the Colorado DOT, the ALT Fuels Colorado grant program will provide $30 million over a four-year period (2014 to 2017) toward the construction of statewide alternative fueling infrastructure and the deployment of AFVs for fleets operating within the state's air quality non-attainment area.
Under the CEO's stewardship, $15 million of the CMAQ funds will be used to develop between 25 and 30 fast-fill CNG stations along major statewide transportation corridors, thus creating an intrastate network for natural gas vehicle travel, according to the agency.
The CEO says the next funding round will occur in early 2016.
