DENVER, CO - Two Recovery Act-supported grants totaling $800,000 have been dedicated to increase the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel in Colorado. The grants will help create and retain jobs, strengthen the state's Western Slope communities, increase energy independence, and address climate change, according to a release issued by the Office of Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. The grants are being administered through the Governor's Energy Office.

A $120,000 grant will be given to City of Grand Junction to complete a compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station for use by the city's natural gas-powered fleet vehicles, as well as CNG-powered vehicles for use by other fleets. With the grant, the city has purchased four CNG-powered garbage trucks and Grand Valley transit is purchasing two natural gas-powered buses.

A second grant of $675,285 will provide Rocky Mountain Alternative Fueling (RMAF) the ability to develop a CNG fueling station and related infrastructure in Rifle. The station will serve both the public and CNG-powered fleet vehicles owned by Garfield County, Colorado Mountain College, and vehicles owned by several oil and gas companies in the region.

The Rifle station will complement another CNG station under development by RMAF in Parachute, 17 miles west. The two stations will give local CNG-powered fleets more flexibility as to where they can fuel up.