Oklahoma compressed natural gas (CNG) retailers recently gathered at OnCue Express in Billings, Okla., to celebrate their work in building at least one CNG station every 100 miles along Oklahoma interstates as part of the state’s first comprehensive energy plan.
Representatives from OnCue Express, Love’s Travel Stops, Tulsa Gas Technologies, Oklahoma Natural Gas and Sparq Natural Gas all joined together to celebrate a day that they claimed was more than 20 years in the making.
In 2011, Gov. Mary Fallin presented her inclusive Oklahoma First Energy Plan, a part of which requested the help of public-sector companies to build CNG infrastructure along Oklahoma highways and interstates. The first step of the plan specified that at least one CNG station was to be built every 100 miles along Oklahoma interstates by the end of 2015. Many stations already existed along those corridors, but several significant gaps still required attention.
In the last five years, many retailers, including OnCue, Love’s, Hutch’s C-Stores, B&H Construction, Tulsa Gas Technologies, EZ GO Stores and Domino Express, have built new stations along interstates and highways to build out the governor’s plan and to support the growing demand for CNG.
Gov. Fallin commented that the state of Oklahoma has saved more than $1,000,000 in fuel costs since converting much of its fleet to CNG over the last few years.
“It takes a diverse public and private partnership team all willing to work hard in order to achieve a bold goal like having a CNG station within every 100 miles on Oklahoma interstates,” Fallin said.
Scott Minton, market development manager for OnCue Express, echoed that same sentiment: “OnCue did not do this alone. It took the work of many retailers across the state to bring this celebration together. Today, we celebrate this accomplishment as an industry.”
Oklahoma has more CNG sites than any other state in the country, per capita, and enjoys an average price of $1.09/gallon across the state.
