EL PASO COUNTY — The cost of electricity for Colorado Springs Utilities customers is a big part of the debate over shutting down the company's last coal power plant.
Current state mandates would have the plant gone by 2030.
"We shouldn't be looking at just the environmental. We've got to look at reliability and cost," said Travas Deal, CEO of Colorado Springs Utilities.
The Nixon plant, located south of Colorado Springs near the raceway track west of I-25, has been generating power since the 1980s. It is the last coal-fired plant in the Colorado Springs Utilities fleet.
Deal is on board with the state's plans to lower carbon emissions with renewable energy. His issue is a timeline he says favors environmentalists while hurting the average person paying their electric bill.
"Our ask here isn't whether we want or not want. It's about maintaining costs, maintaining reliability, and making sure we have the infrastructure out there to bring in these resources that are cost competitive, you know, for our ratepayers," Deal said.
A tour of the Nixon coal-fired plant shows it could go for another 10 to 20 years. Deal compares shutting this down early to being forced to get rid of a vehicle that is paid off and functioning well, then having to replace it with a new, more expensive one.
"Roughly to replace 200 megawatts right now, 400 to $500 million," Deal said.
That could lead to a major spike on utility bills. Colorado Springs Utilities staff have gone to state leaders hoping to negotiate a deal to keep using Nixon beyond 2030 to buffer costs for the company and its customers.
One bill before the state legislature could give an extension to 2040. There are other negotiations happening at the Capitol with extensions in the range of two to five years.
"You know, somebody is paying that bill. I have to do everything in my power to represent our community and not pass off undue cost to customers," Deal said.
Negotiating is happening as the end of the legislative session nears. If an agreement is not made this year, utilities leaders say they will be back next year.
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