Related video: Closure of Comanche 3 power plant prompts creation of coalition
(PUEBLO, Colo.) — A petition has been filed with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) by Xcel Energy and state agencies to keep the Comanche 2 coal plant in Pueblo open beyond its scheduled retirement date of Dec. 31, 2025.
The petition, filed on Monday, Nov. 10 through the Department of Regulatory Agencies, seeks a one-year extension to allow Comanche 2 to continue operations due to several contributing factors, including an “extended outage” at the Comanche 3 plant.
In addition to the outage at Comanche 3, the petition also cites increasing demand for power at high consumption times, supply chain and global economic impacts, as well as updated assessments of resource planning as factors in the need for Comanche 2’s extension.
“While the Commission has multiple planning and other regulatory processes that are available to manage and address these issues, each of these issues layers atop one another, contributing to the need for the variance presented here,” the petition states.
According to the Sierra Club, a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to fighting climate change, the petition is concerning, both for consumers and the environment.
“Xcel’s proposal would guarantee only one thing: Comanche 2 will run for another year, which means more air pollution in Pueblo and higher electricity bills for everyone,” said Director of Sierra Club Colorado Chapter Margaret Kran-Annexstein. “Xcel’s continued mismanagement of Comanche 3 has been a one billion-dollar-plus disaster and this proposal fails to protect customers from spending yet more money on Comanche 3. The PUC should put Xcel on notice that customers should not be charged one more dollar for the notoriously unreliable and polluting Comanche 3 coal unit and the PUC should impose strict guardrails on any use of Comanche 2 after 2025.”
In a letter submitted to the PUC by Xcel, the company stresses the need for additional resources, which led to the request for an extension of Comanche 2.
“In the coming months, [the Public Service Company of Colorado] will take steps toward securing generation resources in order to operate our system reliably–but we felt compelled to voice our concern with Commission outcomes that put at risk even our ability to do that,” the letter reads. “Specifically, we write to express our concerns about the continued skepticism around the level of resources we have identified as necessary to maintain the reliability of the current system and address the growing demand in Colorado.”
The petition seeks to extend the operation of Comanche 2 to Dec. 31, 2026–one year past its original decommission date. “We remain committed to Colorado’s clean energy goals and will continue working closely with all levels of government, regulators, and stakeholders to address the state’s growing energy demands,” a spokesperson for Xcel Energy said.
About The Author
