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 […]
Office of Just Transition
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Coloradans, Economy, Energy, Environment, Growth, News, Outdoors
Xcel Energy may fill the hole left by closing its Hayden coal-fired power plant with salt. And fish.
There is molten salt in the town of Hayden’s future – maybe trout, too – but almost definitely molten salt. The idea of using molten salt energy storage to fill part of the gap in employment and taxes left by the planned closure of the Routt County town’s coal-fired power plant is being planned by […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Education, Energy, Environment, News
In rural Colorado, one town is looking to its community college to help survive the end of coal
By Jason Gonzales, Chalkbeat Colorado Even in the dark of night, chalky smoke from the coal power plant looms over Craig. For generations, coal has been a constant in this northwestern Colorado city. But by 2030, the Craig Station stacks will go quiet as Colorado shifts to renewable energy. Coal has fueled not only Colorado’s […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, News
Colorado wants to help after coal leaves town. It’s going to take time. And a lot of money.
A state plan to support the economies of 11 Colorado counties where coal mines and power plants are closing anticipates a price tag of at least $100 million to help workers and their communities. The state wants to help coal communities however it can, but the people who spent more than a year developing the […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Colorado’s “just transition” for coal communities needs infrastructure investments
Coal mining and coal-powered electricity have supplied Colorado with stable jobs and essential energy resources for generations. As our state’s energy economy transitions to 100% renewables by 2040, policymakers are striving to ensure that coal workers and their communities are given new access to jobs and economic opportunity – a goal that the state has […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, Energy, Environment, Transportation
Anticipating a bust, the Colorado coal town of Craig gets an unexpected boost
If there was one thing everyone agreed on in Craig back in early March, it was that predicting a future without coal was impossible. Two months earlier, the operator of the Craig Station power plant said it would close one of its units by 2025, and the other two by 2030. The coal-fired plant is […]