{"id":748,"date":"2025-07-17T12:00:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T12:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/?p=748"},"modified":"2025-07-17T14:32:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T14:32:43","slug":"epa-signals-opposition-to-colorados-plan-to-close-coal-power-plants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/17\/epa-signals-opposition-to-colorados-plan-to-close-coal-power-plants\/","title":{"rendered":"EPA signals opposition to Colorado\u2019s plan to close coal power plants"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Environmental Protection Agency<\/a> on Wednesday signaled it no longer believes Colorado can mandate utility companies close their coal-fired power plants, leading environmentalists to accuse the Trump administration of attacking the state\u2019s plan to shift to 100% renewable energy by 2031 to meet its climate goals.<\/p>\n

The EPA published a notice in the Federal Register<\/a> that it intends to deny Colorado\u2019s plan to shutter coal-fired power plants as part of the state\u2019s strategy to reduce the regional haze that clouds views at Rocky Mountain National Park<\/a> and other federal lands. Colorado was previously allowed to list coal-plant closures as an acceptable strategy to reduce haze.<\/p>\n

Cyrus Western, director of EPA Region 8<\/a>, which includes Colorado, affirmed to The Denver Post that the denial is part of the Trump administration\u2019s plan to make sure no federal regulations stand in the way of coal-fired power generation.<\/p>\n

Western, a Trump appointee from Wyoming, which is the nation\u2019s largest producer of coal, did not say the EPA would override Colorado\u2019s laws that require the coal-burning plants to close, although the Federal Register notice indicates the agency might do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the legislature does and what the governor does, the laws they pass, that is the state\u2019s business,\u201d Western said. \u201cBut from a federal standpoint, we want to be sure there will not be a single shutdown of a coal-fired generation unit because of federal regulation or by the federal government breathing down their necks.\u201d<\/p>\n

The EPA\u2019s proposal alarmed environmentalists who have been leery of President Donald Trump\u2019s repeated remarks about \u201cbeautiful, clean coal\u201d<\/a> and his executive orders that promote the coal industry.<\/p>\n

The president this year has used executive orders \u2014 citing energy emergencies \u2014 to force coal plants to remain open in Michigan<\/a> and Pennsylvania<\/a>. And the EPA under Trump\u2019s leadership has proposed repealing Biden administration regulations that would have reduced greenhouse gas emissions from coal power plants and required the power sector to cut mercury and other air toxics.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s in keeping with the ideology of this administration to do everything possible to prop up the dying coal industry,\u201d said Jeremy Nichols, senior advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s absurd.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ruling is a pivot from past EPA decisions that allow the closing of coal-fired power plants to count toward clean air goals, Nichols said, and it could pave the way for Xcel Energy<\/a> and other utilities to keep their coal-fired plants running.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t help to have the EPA telling the state it\u2019s illegal to close coal-fired power plants,\u201d Nichols said. \u201cThis is a punch in the face to Colorado\u2019s climate progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Colorado regulators said the EPA\u2019s proposed denial of Colorado\u2019s plans will not have an impact on the state<\/a> because the retirement dates for all of the state\u2019s remaining coal plants remain enforceable under state law and the transition already is underway.<\/p>\n

\u201cUtilities are moving away from coal because it\u2019s no longer the most affordable or reliable option,\u201d said Michael Ogletree, senior director of state air quality programs at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment<\/a>. \u201cMany coal plants have already shut down or are on track to retire \u2014 driven by economics and cost savings for consumers, not federal mandates. That transition is locked in through utility planning and will continue regardless of this federal decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gov. Jared Polis\u2019 office reiterated the point that the utility companies operating in the state already have plans to close those plants.<\/p>\n

\u201cColorado utilities have their own ambitious plans to reduce costs, including retiring costly coal plants to transition to more stable clean energy, and lower costs,\u201d Ally Sullivan, a governor\u2019s spokesperson, said in an email. \u201cThe EPA\u2019s proposed denial has no meaningful impact on utilities\u2019 plans to move away from coal because it\u2019s no longer the most affordable or reliable option.\u201d<\/p>\n

Utilty wants to keep plant open<\/h4>\n

However, the EPA\u2019s notice in the Federal Register stated that Colorado Springs Utilities<\/a> told the agency in April that it wants to exclude its Ray D. Nixon Power Plant<\/a> in Fountain from the state\u2019s closure plans. The utility also met with state regulators on April 23 to ask that Nixon be allowed to remain open, according to the Federal Register notice.<\/p>\n

Danielle Nieves, a Colorado Springs Utilities spokesperson, said the company is still scheduled to shutter Nixon in 2029, but that date is causing reliability challenges and the utility is having difficulties finding resources for the transition to renewable energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe market for renewable energy resources across the country is tremendously challenging with ongoing supply chain congestion and regulatory uncertainty \u2014 resulting in renewable energy resources being three to five times more expensive than originally forecasted,\u201d she said in an email.<\/p>\n

Nieves said the utility is supportive of the EPA\u2019s recommendation to exclude Nixon from the regional haze plan \u201cbecause Colorado doesn\u2019t need the Nixon closure to achieve its reasonable progress targets, and that choosing to include Nixon could present serious reliability challenges for Colorado Springs Utilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spokeswoman Michelle Aguayo said Xcel remains committed to retiring its coal units \u2014 including the Comanche Generating Station in Pueblo<\/a> \u2014 by the end of 2030.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing in this action from the Environmental Protection Agency directly changes our Colorado resource plans,\u201d she said in an emailed statement.<\/p>\n

Although Western said that \u201cwhat Colorado does is Colorado\u2019s business,\u201d the EPA\u2019s notification argued that the Clean Air Act does not give states the ability to order coal power plants to close, citing the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment, which prohibits the government from taking private property without just compensation.<\/p>\n

The EPA also argues \u2014 although without specific evidence \u2014 that forcing the closures would violate Colorado state law.<\/p>\n

Coal is one of the dirtiest forms of electricity generation, annually releasing millions of tons of pollutants into the air that contribute to global warming and harm human health. Those emissions include carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury, sulfur dioxide and fine particulate matter. Those power plants also create a coal ash byproduct<\/a> that leaches contaminants such as lithium and selenium into groundwater.<\/p>\n

\u2018Turning that progress backwards\u2019<\/h4>\n

Coal emissions help create a haze in the skies, and that haze has become a problem at national parks<\/a> across the country, including Rocky Mountain National Park, Great Sand Dunes National Park, Mesa Verde National Park and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, said Tracy Copolla, the National Parks Conservation Association\u2019s<\/a> Colorado program manager.<\/p>\n