(Photo: Xcel Energy Colorado on Twitter)Colorado’s Public Utility Commission voted 2-1 this week to approve Xcel’s Colorado Energy Plan to phase out 660 MW of coal-fired generation by 2026 and increase renewable resources, the Denver Post reported.
The utility says its plan, filed in June, will provide customer benefits that include securing low-cost power, delivering emissions reductions, and growing the state’s portfolio of wind power, solar power, and natural gas.
Under the approved plan, Xcel Energy’s energy mix aims to go from 28% renewables in 2017 to 53% renewables in 2026. Specifically, they intend to add more than 1,100 MW of wind generation, 700 MW of large-scale solar generation, and 275 MW of large-scale battery storage. The plan also adds 380 MW of existing natural gas generation.
Two of Xcel’s coal-fired plants in Pueblo are set to get phased out over the next eight years, about a decade earlier than the original target date of 2035, the Denver Post’s Judith Kohler reported.
“Xcel says the plan will invest $2.5 billion in eight counties and save customers about $213 million, thanks to the declining costs of renewable energy,” she wrote.
Implementing the Colorado Energy Plan for 2026 could reduce carbon emissions by about 60% from 2005 levels while keeping customer bills low, the utility estimated. Currently Xcel has 1.5 million residential and commercial electricity customers in the state.
Earlier this month Xcel struck a deal to install an onsite 240-MW solar facility for Evraz Rocky Mountain Steel in Pueblo. The agreement should help the utility retire its two local coal-fired facilities, according to Xcel.
“Now is the perfect time to take advantage of our state’s abundant renewable energy resources and available incentives that significantly lower the price you pay for electricity,” the utility’s statement read.
