HB 10-1365--Retiring or Repowering Colorado Coal Plants-Part 1

During the historic 2010 legislative session, the Colorado legislature passed what is known as HB10-1365--the "Clean Air, Clean Jobs" bill. In short, the bill calls on investor owned utilities such as Xcel Energy to consider the early retirement of up to 900 MW of coal plants on Xcel's Colorado system in order to help clean the air and create new clean energy jobs. 

A copy of the bill as enacted is attached.

A Powerpoint presentation given to the Public Utilities Commission on April 26, 2010 regarding the pending clean air issues that will affect Colorado's front range coal plants is here.

The final decisions on whether to retire the coal plants, attempt to retrofit them with various pollution control technologies or to repower the plants with natural gas or to replace their power as needed with other "clean energy" alternatives will be made after Xcel files their proposal with the Public Utilities Commission in August 2010 and the issues are discussed in a formal, adjudicated hearing with testimony and cross examination of witnesses.

A strong coalition will be working to maximize the use of efficiency and renewable energy to replace any retired coal plants. It will also be important to have a strong voice from the public on whether Colorado should continue its relatively heavy reliance on coal or move to a cleaner array of choices for managing and meeting our electric demand.

Watch the Clean Energy Blog for news of the PUC proceedings as they become available.