Colorado Springs Utilities has agreed to a three-year cap on its extension request to keep burning coal at the Ray D. Nixon plant in Fountain past 2029, in a compromise bill moving through the legislature that key environmental advocates say they will not oppose.
Senate Bill 182, greenlighting coal at the plant through 2032, replaces the now-dropped Senate Bill 22 that would have allowed Colorado Springs’ city-owned utility to keep Nixon open with coal until 2040 while it brings renewable replacements online. Nixon is one of six remaining coal-fired power plants across Colorado, and before recent negotiations had long been scheduled to close in 2029 as part of state targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power production by 80% in 2030.
Colorado Springs said in late 2025 that higher costs and supply chain problems were delaying its ability to replace Nixon with clean solar and wind technology. Local leaders, including Democrats, sought relief from the greenhouse gas targets, also taking advantage of support for coal from the Trump administration.
The U.S. Department of Energy has also ordered Tri-State Generation’s Craig Unit 1 to stay open past its late 2025 closure date, citing alleged national electric supply emergencies caused by data center growth and electrification of the economy away from fossil fuels.
Colorado Springs Utilities said through a spokesperson that the new bill with the three-year extension for Nixon “represents months of hard work between our organization, the governor’s office, the Sierra Club of Colorado and other environmental stakeholders to develop a fair but firm compromise that helps us achieve the state’s emissions reduction goals without compromising reliability and affordability.”
Sierra Club officials called the compromise a “major improvement” over Colorado Springs’ first pitch in the legislature, and will not actively oppose it, but they were not in a celebratory mood. Sierra Club will also not be endorsing it or sponsoring it, they said.
“We’re not supportive of any coal plant extensions, especially when there was time to plan, but we’re glad CSU was able to negotiate to improve their proposal to reduce the negative impacts on the greater Colorado Springs community and the region’s air quality,” said Colorado Sierra Club spokesperson Noah Rott. The club also critiqued Gov. Jared Polis for failing to make a more active defense of state clean air goals, thereby giving Colorado Springs “leverage” in the negotiations.
The new bill commits Colorado Springs Utilities to close Nixon’s coal operations by the end of 2032. The Sierra Club noted what they called another win for the environment in the compromise, requiring the utility to “reduce emissions 95 percent by 2040 in its clean energy plans, and undergo monitoring.”
The compromise moves ahead amid a flurry of energy-related moves at this year’s legislature, including a bill requiring more transparency, reporting and updated pollution control technology for Colorado power plants that do keep burning coal. Another bill to ease development of a nuclear power reactor in Colorado also remains alive after hours of heated debate at the end of April.