Colorado Asks PUC to Reject Xcel’s Just Transition Plan 

Plan seeks to add new natural-gas-fired plants and pave a pathway for nuclear energy. Many Coloradans aren’t sold on the benefits. 

Xcel Energy’s plan to transition away from coal-fired power plants to more renewable energy met resistance from residents and elected officials who say it does not go far enough to help Colorado meet its greenhouse gas reduction goals and could harm communities already reeling from the impacts of pollution. 

The plan, formally known as Xcel’s Just Transition Solicitation, has been under development since 2022. It includes plans to retire three coal-fired power plants in Pueblo, Hayden, and Craig. The plant in Pueblo will retire no later than 2031, while the plants in Hayden and Craig will retire in 2028. Xcel said the retirements will help the company reach its goal of reducing emissions by 80% by 2030. 

During a public hearing about the plan on April 28, approximately 60 Coloradans spoke against the plan. Some argued that it would make it more difficult for municipalities to meet their own greenhouse gas reduction goals by replacing the coal-fired plants with gas-fired power plants. Others worried about Xcel’s plans to include other energy sources like carbon capture, nuclear, or hydrogen mixed with natural gas, and their potential financial impacts.

The state Public Utilities Commission is expected to make a final decision about the plan in August 2025. 

Emily Baer, a member of the town council in Erie, told PUC that Xcel’s plan could hinder the state’s goals of achieving 100% clean electricity generation by 2040. She said it could also hinder Erie’s efforts to meet its aggressive energy plan, which calls for at least 25% of commercial power to come from renewable sources and have electric cars make up at least 30% of vehicles registered in town. 

Baer said Xcel should focus on creating new wind and solar plants, rather than building new gas-fired plants. 

“In addition to the negative health impacts, gas plants are expensive to build. Wind and solar plants are not,” she said. 

Colorado’s aggressive climate action goals and its push to become a leading state in electric vehicle adoption are two factors influencing Xcel’s Just Transition plan. The state wants to be 100% net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and has passed new laws that increase building performance standards and energy efficiency requirements. Overall, the utility provider estimates the state will need about 14 gigawatts of new generation and storage capacity to meet these goals. 

However, meeting these goals has been a source of significant political headaches. For instance, building owners in Denver have pushed back against the city’s stringent building performance goals, also known as Energize Denver, which set energy-saving targets for buildings that are 25,000 sq. ft. and larger. 

In early April, Denver’s Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency adopted new rules to add some flexibility to those goals, like extending the deadline for compliance from 2028 to 2032 and adding ways for owners of financially distressed buildings to delay compliance. 

Gov. Jared Polis has also faced political roadblocks in his attempts to accelerate Colorado’s transition away from energy sources like fossil fuels and coal. Polis’ office developed draft legislation that would have required state utility providers like Xcel, Black Hills Energy, and Holy Cross to eliminate climate-warming emissions before the 2040 deadline. 

However, CPR reported the legislation wasn’t introduced during the 2025 legislative session because it faced significant pushback from business groups, utilities, and labor unions. 

“I’m hopeful we can find a pathway forward,” Andy Miller, climate and clean energy policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, told CPR News. “Especially facing federal headwinds against renewables and emissions reductions, it’s important for Colorado to continue being a leader in this space.”

Some elected officials who support Colorado’s clean energy transition were also concerned about the plan’s financial impact on their communities. Chris Nichols, the mayor of Craig, said his community and nearby Moffat could face a 15% decline in tax collections once Xcel’s power plant closes. Overall, Nichols estimated that Craig and Moffat could lose roughly $28 million in tax collections from the power plant’s closure. He asked PUC to ensure Xcel’s Just Transition plan includes a community assistance agreement to recoup that income over the next 10 years. 

Routt County is pursuing a similar agreement with Xcel to recoup $89 million over a 10-year period from the closure of the Hayden Plant. Xcel previously offered to pay $16 million, the Yampa Valley Bugle reported.

Nina Waters, a Summit County Commissioner, also expressed concerns about the financial impacts of Xcel’s transition plan. She argued that investing in new gas-fired power plants would undermine her county’s climate goals and threaten its snowpack, which she said is a primary driver of the county’s economy. 

“Snow is arriving later and melting earlier,” Waters said. “Wildfire seasons are lasting longer. These changes threaten not only our natural resources but the economic security of thousands of families in Summit County and beyond.” 

Local residents from across the Front Range also spoke against the nuclear power provisions in Xcel’s plan. Xcel proposed creating small nuclear power reactors in place of the retired power plants to help generate the additional electricity Colorado needs. 

Nuclear power has become a point of contention between utility providers, lawmakers, and local residents in Colorado over the last several years. Some argue that adding nuclear power could diversify the state’s energy portfolio and help reduce costs for homeowners. Others argue that environmental risks from creating nuclear waste storage facilities outweigh the potential financial impacts. 

Jeri Fry, co-founder of Colorado Citizens Against Toxic Waste, told Wyoming Public Radio that nuclear energy is a constant threat to her community in Cañon City, where about 5.8 million tons of radioactive waste are buried behind a berm. The waste came from the Cotter uranium mine, which operated from 1958 to 1979. There are hundreds of homes within a two-mile radius of the site as well. 

“These things have half lives that are centuries, millennia long,” Fry told Wyoming Public Radio. “And so a community that is not given full disclosure and full information about what they’re signing on to, could just get a horrible commitment.”

Julian Guevara, an organizer with Mi Familia Vota, expressed concerns about working-class families in cities like Pueblo bearing the brunt of the environmental impacts resulting from nuclear power. He asked PUC to instead consider supporting more reliable and safer renewable energy alternatives like wind and solar. 

“The future of Pueblo’s energy economy should not be built on unproven, high-risk nuclear technology that could saddle working families with sky-high energy costs and long-term radioactive waste concerns,” Guevara said.