Colorado Springs Utilities is working with local legislators on a bill that would give the Ray Nixon coal power plant a reprieve from state laws mandating it be closed in 2029 and be replaced by cleaner electricity.
The move comes just days after the federal government rejected a Colorado pollution-fighting plan because it relies on closing the Nixon plant as planned. Colorado officials said they were confident state laws dictating the closure of six remaining coal plants would survive the EPA move, but now Colorado Springs is seeking a specific state exemption.
The utility and supporting legislators, including Republicans and Democratic Rep. Amy Paschal, said Colorado Springs cannot guarantee replacing Nixon by 2029 with affordable, reliable clean energy, though they will continue to work toward that goal.
“Achieving Colorado’s deadline of 80% greenhouse gas reductions by 2030 has become increasingly challenging,” utility chief Travas Deal said. Bid costs for replacement solar and wind are much higher than originally planned, Deal said, nor are there adequate transmission routes for buying clean energy from distant sources.
“Without adjustments, we risk reliability and affordability for homes, businesses, hospitals and military installations,” Deal said, at a news conference with legislators and business representatives. “We remain committed to sustainability, but we need a measured approach.”
Colorado’s environmental groups, who have backed state regulators in setting out the coal plant closures by 2031, said they would work against an exemption for Colorado Springs.
“Colorado Springs Utilities did not do its due diligence in its resource planning to replace the Nixon Unit’s generation and now is asking for a free pass to keep emitting climate and health harming pollutants into our air,” said Megan Kemp, Colorado legislative representative for the Earthjustice Rocky Mountain Office. “The legislature should reject attempts to delay coal plant retirement and clean energy commitments, especially absent clear requirements to reduce pollution on-site. This will hurt public health and ratepayers and is unfair to the other nonprofit utilities that have taken responsible action to adhere to clean energy requirements.”
Conservation Colorado’s climate campaign manager Paul Sherman said in a statement, “After years of failing to plan for replacement resources, Colorado Springs Utilities wants to break its promise and remain one of Colorado’s largest polluters . . . CSU is the only major utility in the state trying to walk away from that commitment. Lawmakers should not reward broken promises and poor planning.”
Closing Colorado’s remaining coal plants over the next few years is a key component of state emissions-reduction mandates, including reaching the target of an 80% reduction in power sector greenhouse gas emissions, from a 2005 benchmark, by 2030. With each coal-fired plant emitting millions of tons of carbon dioxide a year out of Colorado’s overall 115 million tons of emissions, the coal plants are the largest single sources left to eliminate.
“We would not be asking for it if it was not needed. And so I think the legislature is going to be very receptive to that,” said House Minority Leader Rep. Jarvis Caldwell, R-Colorado Springs. “Having bipartisan legislation always sends a strong signal.”
Burning coal at Nixon, which is south of Colorado Springs in Fountain, would also extend pumping tons of local, lung-harming pollutants like sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, which also contribute to the Front Range ground-level ozone problem. The Colorado Springs officials speaking Monday said they are accounting for many interests, from health to electric reliability, to the lowest costs for El Paso County consumers already challenged by recent utility price increases.
“The group of people that care about those chemicals, and the group of people that care about affordability, and the group of people that care about reliability, are not three different groups,” said Paschal, who represents El Paso and Teller counties. “These are something that we all care about and that we all need to balance.”
Advocates for the clean energy transition, including current state officials, point to investor-owned Xcel Energy and smaller co-op electric companies like Holy Cross as examples of utilities well on schedule to meet or surpass the 80% greenhouse gas reductions within four years.
In reaction to the EPA rejection of a different Colorado clean air plan last week, state Air Pollution Control Director Michael Ogletree said, “coal plant retirement dates remain in state regulation, and many facilities have already closed or are on track to retire voluntarily because cleaner energy is more affordable and makes economic sense for consumers.”
Colorado Springs Utilities said the city has unique needs and challenges compared to other power suppliers. The city has looked at bringing in wind power from Wyoming, a key regional source of reliable wind energy, Deal said, but needs additional transmission paths to take advantage of it.
“We’re all very different. Our assets were built differently for different reasons. We’re committed to the transition,” Deal said. “I want to just keep saying that we just need to do it in the right way, that manages cost and reliability.”
CSU did not commit to how long it wants to keep the Nixon plant open beyond 2029, saying the utility is rewriting its energy resource plan while pushing for the extension. As a municipally owned utility, CSU does not need approval of an extension from the state Public Utilities Commission, Deal said.