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Colorado Responds To Federal Coal Extension Orders With New Emissions Requirements
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Responds To Federal Coal Extension Orders With New Emissions Requirements

By Scott Weiser | The Denver Gazette Gov. Jared Polis signed into law a bill in reaction to orders from the U.S. Department of Energy to keep older coal units online. The federal government’s instructions applied to Craig Unit 1 in Colorado, one of five coal units affected nationwide. The state legislation requires installation of modern pollution controls and cost reporting for any Colorado coal-fired power plants that continue operating beyond planned retirement dates. The measure, House Bill 26-1226, also directs the Public Utilities Commission to support resource planning consistent with state clean energy goals. The legislation signed June 4 targets qualifying coal units that emitted significant nitrogen oxides or sulfur dioxide in 2024. It...
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Colorado Lawmakers Move To Extend Coal Plant Operations As Energy Prices Rise
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E&E News, State

Colorado Lawmakers Move To Extend Coal Plant Operations As Energy Prices Rise

By Jason Plautz | E&E News A plan to postpone the retirement of the Ray Nixon Power Plant comes as Colorado wrestles with its climate targets. CLIMATEWIRE | Colorado lawmakers are poised to extend the life of a coal plant three years beyond a state-mandated retirement deadline — a backtrack that underscores Colorado's growing tension between climate goals and energy affordability. Under state law, Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) was required to shutter the Ray Nixon Power Plant by the end of 2029, part of the state’s effort to fully move away from coal power by 2031 and run a 100 percent renewable energy grid by 2040. But the process of replacing the plant with renewable sources has proven more expensive and time-consuming than anticipated, and CSU h...
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Gas Turbines Ramp Up As Colorado Joins Regional Grid System
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The Coloradoan, Approved, State

Gas Turbines Ramp Up As Colorado Joins Regional Grid System

By Rebecca Powell | The Coloradoan In the month since Platte River Power Authority joined a regional energy market, its combustion gas turbines have been operating at a higher level and the Craig 1 unit that was supposed to have been retired instead began burning coal again. The combustion turbines have been operating at a "much higher capacity factor" and prices have been volatile, Melie Vincent, PRPA's chief power supply officer, told the board of directors on April 30. "A lot of this is just SPP operators trying to figure out the western side," Vincent said, referring to the Southwest Power Pool regional transmission organization's expansion into the western United States with nine utilities in Colorado, Arizona, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah and Wyo...
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Colorado Bill Could Lock Xcel Customers Into Decades Of Power Plant Costs
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Bill Could Lock Xcel Customers Into Decades Of Power Plant Costs

By Scott Weiser | The Denver Gazette State regulators would gain expanded power to order Xcel Energy to finance major costs for its chronically troubled Comanche 3 coal plant through bonds backed by a decades-long charge on every customer’s monthly electric bill. House Bill 26-1326, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission sunset bill that cleared its first committee on April 23, would let the PUC direct investor-owned utilities to use securitization under 2019’s Colorado Energy Impact Bond Act. The measure continues the PUC through 2037 while expanding its authority beyond voluntary utility applications. Securitization allows a utility to issue bonds backed by a decades-long charge on ratepayer bills. The charge stays on every bill, with periodic adjustments, only unt...
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Federal Order Keeps Craig Coal Plant Ready As Power Demand Tests Grid
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Federal Order Keeps Craig Coal Plant Ready As Power Demand Tests Grid

By Michael Booth | The Colorado Sun Tri-State still doesn’t want to burn fuel at the northwestern Colorado plant, but is under emergency federal orders. A reluctant Tri-State Generation and Transmission is now burning coal and sending electricity out onto the grid from its Craig Unit 1, after the Western power grid authority said potential for outages at other plants meant the northwestern Colorado power is needed to balance regional resources.  Tri-State had long planned to shutter Craig 1 for good at the end of 2025, but federal emergency orders from the Trump administration required the co-op to instead to keep the generating unit in good repair and available to operate. Craig 1 had been available but idle in the first months of 2026, while Tri-State, the Col...
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Hidden Costs And Secret Repairs Cloud Colorado’s Largest Coal Plant
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Colorado Public Radio, Approved, State

Hidden Costs And Secret Repairs Cloud Colorado’s Largest Coal Plant

By Ishan Thakore | CPR News Last week, state utility regulators sharply questioned Xcel Energy’s repairs to Colorado’s newest coal-fired power plant, Comanche 3.  Since it opened more than a decade ago in Pueblo, the behemoth plant has been beset by technical problems and months-long outages. It has been offline since August 2025, when it suffered a catastrophic breakdown. Xcel now believes the plant won’t reopen until at least August 2026, because repairs have been delayed.  Multiple commissioners on the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) said the plant’s woes could put the state in a bind during the summer, when demand for electricity can skyrocket.  “Not to state the obvious, but we have a real problem with Comanche 3,” said ...
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Xcel Warns Grid May Need Coal Plants Longer Amid Delays In New Energy Projects
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Xcel Warns Grid May Need Coal Plants Longer Amid Delays In New Energy Projects

By: Mark Jaffe | The Colorado Sun The plants in Pueblo and Hayden were slated to phase out between 2025 and 2030. Now the company has proposed running all their units for four more years. Xcel Energy, facing what it says is a shortfall in electricity generating capacity for the next two years, is proposing to run its four coal-fired units until 2030. Comanche Unit 2, in Pueblo, was supposed to close at the end of 2025. One unit at the Hayden Station is to close in 2027 and the second unit is slated to shut in 2028. Comanche Unit 3 is set to close in 2030. Comanche 3 suffered turbine damage in August taking the unit offline. Xcel Energy initially said repairs would be completed in June, but in a March 2 report to state regulators the company said it h...
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Study Shows Electricity Costs Rising Fastest in States Pushing Green Mandates
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Just The News, Approved, National

Study Shows Electricity Costs Rising Fastest in States Pushing Green Mandates

By Kevin Killough | Just The News As Trump kicks off his affordability tour, new analyses show that states with renewable energy mandates have higher electricity rates than states without. President Donald Trump kicked off an affordability tour in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, and among the concerns he’s discussing at the events is the cost of energy.  It’s a big concern for Americans. A recent poll conducted by Ipsos, a marketing research and consulting firm, found that 73% of U.S. residents were concerned about increases in their electricity and gas bills this year.  A new analysis by Always On Energy Research and the Institute for Energy Research shows that residents of blue states see higher electricit...
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Regulators Keep Pueblo Comanche Coal Unit Running While Xcel Repairs Newer Plant
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Regulators Keep Pueblo Comanche Coal Unit Running While Xcel Repairs Newer Plant

By Alexander Edwards | The Denver Gazette The Comanche Power Plant in Pueblo will continue to operate a coal-powered electrical generating unit that was slated for retirement this month for one more year. The move comes after Xcel Energy, the state’s largest utility company, petitioned in November to keep one generator operating after an outage at the coal-fired power plant. Gov. Jared Polis backed the petition. On Wednesday, the Public Utilities Commission approved a variance submitted by the utility. This allows Comanche 2, which was slated to be retired on Dec. 31, to continue operating as Xcel fixes the Comanche 3. “The Commission found that the outage at Comanche 3 was the sole justification for the extension of Comanche 2,” a fact sheet released by th...
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Xcel Seeks One-Year Extension to Keep Comanche Coal Unit Running as Grid Pressures Rise
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Xcel Seeks One-Year Extension to Keep Comanche Coal Unit Running as Grid Pressures Rise

By Scott Weiser | Colorado Politics Colorado’s largest utility company has petitioned energy regulators to push back the retirement of a coal-fired, electrical generating unit located in the Southern part of the state from December 2025 to the end of 2026. The Polis administration is backing the petition. Comanche Unit 2 is one of three coal-fired units at the Pueblo-based Comanche Generating Station. In its petition, Xcel Energy cites as reason an extended outage at the adjacent Unit 3, surging peak demand and supply chain hurdles. The petition underscores admissions from both Xcel and state officials about a potential generating resource shortfall exacerbated by a failure at the Comanche Unit 3, taking it off-line for the next 11 months, and by delays in bringing new “rene...
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