A handful of alternative energy fueling stations are surfacing in Weld and Larimer counties, with others planned in the future. Consumers, however, have yet to take advantage of alternative fueling technology.

Firestone’s new station, which opened earlier this month, is open 24 hours a day. But that doesn’t mean the public is using it at all hours.

Taxpayers forked over $608,000 of the $700,000 station’s cost via a federal grant distributed by the Denver Regional Council of Governments. Mansfield Energy Corp., which operates the facility, and Anadarko, Noble Energy and Encana contributed the remaining funding.

The station is Weld County’s first, with three others opening later this year.

Weld County has replaced 11 of its fleet vehicles with compressed natural-gas vehicles. Encana converted a “large number” of its own fleet to compressed natural gas last year, according to the company’s corporate responsibility report. As part of its U.S. operations, the company uses more than 250 compressed natural-gas vehicles, which are primarily fueled at its stations in Colorado, Wyoming and Louisiana.

The Firestone station’s convenient location off