This much is certain: Comanche 3 — Xcel Energy’s $1.3 billion coal-fired power plant in Pueblo — is going to close. When and how are now issues of intense debate before the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. The fate of the plant — the state’s largest single emitter of carbon dioxide — is key to Colorado […]
Alice Jackson
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, News
Xcel Energy needs a smarter, greener electric grid. But should Colorado customers foot the $344 million bill for it?
Xcel Energy is pushing for a record $344 million rate increase it says it needs to build a smarter, greener electric grid. But consumer advocates and state regulators are pushing back over the price tag. A major concern is that along with an earlier rate increase and other pending requests since the start of 2020, […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, News
Xcel Energy floats “Power Pathway” plan to bring wind, solar power to cities from rural Colorado
Xcel Energy on Tuesday filed a plan with state electricity regulators for a $1.7 billion project to build 560 miles of transmission lines encircling eastern Colorado designed to bring wind and solar electricity to Front Range population centers from rural areas. The project – Power Pathway – would be done in collaboration with at least […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, News
Xcel plans to double its renewable energy generation by 2030. It’ll cost consumers $8 billion to do it.
Xcel Energy will spend $8 billion to double its renewable energy generation and storage and add new transmission lines, while closing all of its coal-fired power plants in Colorado by 2040. The initiative, unveiled Wednesday, would reduce Xcel’s carbon emissions in Colorado 85% from 2005 levels by 2030. A state law requires regulated utilities to […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Economy, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Xcel Energy moves up closure dates for coal-fired power plant near Steamboat Springs
The coal-fired Hayden Generating Station will close ahead of schedule, marking the latest in a steady stream of Colorado coal plant closures, Xcel Energy announced Monday. The plant’s 44-year-old Unit 2 will close by the end 2027, and Unit 1, which came online in 1965, will be shuttered by the end of 2028. The two […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, Health, News, Politics and Government, Transportation
It will take $130M to get more EVs on Colorado roads. Xcel wants its customers to cover the cost.
Xcel Energy and the Polis administration hashed out the shape of a $30 million electric vehicle rebate program, the most generous in the country, behind closed doors. And then in September state officials presented it to utility regulators as their own. In a bit of regulatory theater, Xcel executives then commented on and critiqued the […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Xcel Energy, Colorado’s largest utility, aims to have zero carbon emissions by 2050 in industry-first plan
Xcel Energy, Colorado’s largest utility, announced an ambitious plan Tuesday to slash carbon emissions from its electrical generation by 80 percent by 2030 from 2005 levels, and emit zero carbon emissions across the eight states where it operates by 2050. The industry-first initiative comes in direct response to climate change, said Ben Fowke, CEO of […]