Coal-fired electric generation coming to an end in Colorado

By 2030, coal-fired electric generation in Colorado will be non-existent. 

Tri-State Generation and Transmission announced earlier this month that their three coal-fired electric generation plants and coal mine will be shut down by 2030. 

Tri-State is not-for-profit cooperative power supplier, headquartered in Westminster, Colorado. Its members  include 43 electric distribution cooperatives and public power districts in four states.

Midwest Electric Cooperative Corporation based in Grant is among six members located in Nebraska. Highline Electric Association based in Holyoke, Colorado is also a Tri-State member.

Shawn Turner of Grant sits on the Tri-State board and is a member of the nine-person executive committee. 

Their committee has been dealing with how to comply with new Colorado greenhouse emission laws passed in May 2019. 

By 2030, the legislation requires generating facilities to reduce their greenhouse emissions by 80% from their 2005 levels.

Basically what this did, Turner said, was to shut down coal-fired generation in Colorado.

New Mexico has passed similar legislation and Tri-State will shutter their 253-megawatt plant in Prewitt, New Mexico at the end of 2020. 

Tri-State’s Craig Station, a three-unit plant located in Moffat County, Colorado, will close down by 2030. 

The plant is capable of generating 1,285 megawatts of electricity. 

They will close a 427-megawatt unit by 2025. A 410-megawatt unit and  a 448-megawatt plant will both close by 2030.

In addition, Tri-State will close their Colowyo coal mine that supplies coal for the Craig Station by 2030. Nearly 600 jobs will be cut over time. 

Passage of similar legislation failed in 2018. However, Democrats won control of both the state senate and house, along with a Democratic governor, and got the new law passed.

 

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