Both Xcel Energy and environmental groups cautiously praised Thursday’s unanimous decision by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to convert the Cherokee 4 coal-fired power plant unit to natural gas. But both sides are clearly still concerned about the details in the plan.
Xcel officials originally wanted to keep Cherokee 4 running on coal until 2022, five years past the 2017 deadline mandated by the Clean Air, Clean Jobs Act for cutting nitrogen oxide emissions by at least 70 percent of 2008 levels in order to comply with federal clean-air standards.
Then the state’s largest electrical utility recommended installing expensive new emissions controls. Other state agencies and Gov. Bill Ritter’s office preferred shutting the plant down altogether in 2017 and replacing it with a brand-new natural gas-fired facility.
Read the entire article at the Colorado Independent: Heated coal vs. gas battle comes to a head with key PUC decision
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