Weld County gets pumped over natural gas vehicles

With more than 17,000 active wells, Weld County runs on natural gas. Now, county officials and energy companies are hoping to fuel thousands of vehicles with compressed natural gas.

Officials are revving up the Weld County Smart Energy initiative this summer, with plans to establish the first public CNG stations along the northern Front Range by the end of the year. Long-term goals for the public-private partnership include building 25 natural-gas filling stations and getting 10,000 natural-gas vehicles on the road in Weld County.

County commissioner Barbara Kirkmeyer said the program is “win-win-win” for Weld — and other…