Dive Brief:
- Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores opened its latest compressed natural gas site last week, bringing its CNG station count to 106 locations in the U.S. and Canada, according to a company announcement.
- This cardlock site in Fresno, California, is Love’s first CNG station opening since rebranding its renewable and alternative fuels arm from Trillium to Love’s Alternative Energy.
- This comes about four months after Love’s Alternative Energy acquired more than 40 CNG stations in 15 states from U.S. Energy.
Dive Insight:
While it’s still a small part of the U.S. transportation energy landscape, the global CNG market was worth nearly $4 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of about 5% per year, according to Precedence Research. California has nearly 200 CNG sites according to state data, accounting for more than a quarter of all such sites in the U.S.
Love’s hopes to capitalize on the growing demand for CNG fuel with its latest site and broader investment in the space.
“The Fresno station addresses a growing demand for lower carbon fueling options for commercial trucking, refuse and transit fleets in this part of the country as it’s a significant logistics and supply chain hub,” said Ryan Erickson, vice president of Love’s Alternative Energy.
The site has six high-speed CNG dispensers and is designed to accommodate larger commercial vehicles, according to the announcement. The site also includes transaction tracking, which reports information like the cost, car and driver to fleet managers.
In addition to CNG, Love’s Alternative Energy offers electric vehicle charging, renewable natural gas and hydrogen.
