Gov. Bill Ritter awarded two grants Monday totaling nearly $800,000 to increase the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel on the Western Slope.
The Recovery Act-supported grants are designed to create and retain jobs, strengthen Western Slope communities, increase energy independence and address climate change.
One grant will provide $120,000 to the city of Grand Junction to complete a compressed-natural-gas, or CNG, fueling station for use by the city’s fleet vehicles and other fleet vehicles. The city has purchased four CNG-powered garbage trucks, and Grand Valley Transit is purchasing two natural-gas-powered buses that will benefit from the fuel ing station.
A second grant will provide $675,285 to Rocky Mountain Alternative Fueling to develop a CNG fueling station in Rifle near Interstate 70. The station will serve the public as well as CNG-powered fleet vehicles owned by Garfield County and Colorado Mountain College and vehicles owned by several oil and gas companies in the region.
