Xcel Energy wants to plan for long-term economic solutions for communities affected by its shutdown of two coal-fired power plants.
The utility submitted a request to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to approve a “Just Transition Solicitation” for locating future new power generation in Hayden and Pueblo as part of its commitment to the communities that host coal plants today.
One of the problems Xcel says it faces with its energy resource acquisition planning is that regulations don’t allow the company to plan far enough ahead to accommodate long-term projects that may take more than one cycle of the resource acquisition planning process. Xcel is asking permission to stretch out the planning process over a longer period.
“The JTS seeks to identify and develop a framework to meet our growing energy and capacity needs through 2031 and provide new tools to begin the process of identifying advanced technologies that can serve our customers in a low- or zero-emission manner,” according to the PUC application.
Closing the Hayden and Comanche coal plants is planned for 2028 and 2030 respectively.
Without a transition plan the closures would devastate both communities economically, according to the state General Assembly, which passed House Bill 19-1314 that requires Xcel to create a “just transition” plan to support the affected communities.
“For nearly sixty years, the dedicated employees at Hayden Station and Comanche Generation Station have provided reliable and safe service for our Colorado customers and communities. We are committed to transitioning our employees into new roles as needed, something we’ve done successfully at other Xcel Energy plants,” said Robert Kenney, president of Xcel Energy Colorado.
Xcel says its proposal will strive to keep electric generation going by incentivizing advanced technology submissions by “sending a market signal to developers that advanced technology projects can and should be bid to Public Service even if long lead times prohibit the ability to achieve commercial operation within the RAP.”
In his testimony before the PUC, Jack Ihle, Xcel’s regional vice president of regulatory planning and policy said: “The current shorter-term RAP structure of the resource solicitation process as practiced now is virtually incompatible with inherently longer-timeline resources, such as pumped hydro, geothermal, nuclear, geologic carbon-capture, hydrogen or other technologies. This proposed approach gets an avenue for advancing such a type of project started, with further evaluation in future planning cycles as progress is made in development.”
Not everyone is pleased with what the utility is proposing, however.
“The plan represents a critical opportunity for the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to require that Xcel prioritize clean, reliable energy while avoiding false solutions that could continue to harm Pueblo residents, the climate, and Xcel ratepayers,” said Jim Carpenter, co-founder of Freestone Strategies, a strategic public affairs firm. “It focuses heavily on renewables and storage but includes new gas generation. It also keeps the door open for customers having to pay for so-called “advanced tech” like nuclear and hydrogen in future years.”
Carpenter provided quotes from various organizations and Pueblo residents, who voiced concerns with Xcel’s proposal to consider energy generation technologies other than wind and solar and who criticized the references in the plan to natural gas and nuclear power, arguing they should not be considered at all.
“A new gas plant would be bad for Pueblo, bad for every one of Xcel’s customers, bad for our climate, and bad for our air quality. Gas with carbon-capture – just like nuclear – is a risky, untested technology that will cost too much and do more harm than good. We all deserve better,” said Eric Frankowski, executive director of the Western Clean Energy Campaign in Carpenter’s press release.
Ihle said the plan “recognizes that Just Transition will be a process over several planning cycles, and the proposals together provide a runway of investment opportunities into these communities over a longer time horizon.”
No schedule for hearings at the PUC has been set.
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