Colorado's last standing coal plant?
Coal to feed the roaring blast furnaces of Pueblo’s steel mill was being mined a century ago at dozens of hamlets in the foothills of Colorado’s Sangre de Cristo Range. Little remains today of those camps near Trinidad nor of the mine works at Crested Butte, Lafayette, and other one-time coal-mining towns.
We’re now in the midst of an even greater change. Get your photos quick. The smokestacks of the giant coal-burning plants that have generated most of our electricity during the last 50 years will soon start falling.
What will be Colorado’s last standing coal plant? It’s an open question. Xcel Energy, Colorado’s largest utility, wants it to be Comanche 3. It operates and is majority owner of the plant, along with Intermountain Rural Electric Association and Holy Cross Energy. In late March Xcel will submit plans to state regulators to keep the plant burning coal until 2040.
All other coal plants in Colorado will close by 2030, according to current plans. Colorado’s energy transition is—well, the metaphor of picking up steam doesn’t work as well as it used to. The state had a combined 4,412 megawatts of electrical generating capacity in December 2018.
Read more: https://mountaintownnews.net/2021/03/04/colorados-last-coal-plant/
