EPA signals opposition to Colorado's plan to close coal power plants

DENVER — The Environmental Protection Agency 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’s plan to shift to 100% renewable energy by 2031 to meet its climate goals.

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

Cyrus Western, director of EPA Region 8, which includes Colorado, affirmed to The Denver Post that the denial is part of the Trump administration’s plan to make sure no federal regulations stand in the way of coal-fired power generation.

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

“What the legislature does and what the governor does, the laws they pass, that is the state’s business,” Western said. “But 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.”

The EPA’s proposal alarmed environmentalists who have been leery of President Donald Trump’s repeated remarks about “beautiful, clean coal” and his executive orders that promote the coal industry.

The president this year has used executive orders — citing energy emergencies — to force coal plants to remain open in Michigan and Pennsylvania. And the EPA under Trump’s 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.

“It’s in keeping with the ideology of this administration to do everything possible to prop up the dying coal industry,” said Jeremy Nichols, senior advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s absurd.”

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 and other utilities to keep their coal-fired plants running.

“It doesn’t help to have the EPA telling the state it’s illegal to close coal-fired power plants,” Nichols said. “This is a punch in the face to Colorado’s climate progress.”

But Colorado regulators said the EPA’s proposed denial of Colorado’s plans will not have an impact on the state because the retirement dates for all of the state’s remaining coal plants remain enforceable under state law and the transition already is underway.

“Utilities are moving away from coal because it’s no longer the most affordable or reliable option,” said Michael Ogletree, senior director of state air quality programs at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. “Many coal plants have already shut down or are on track to retire — 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.”

Gov. Jared Polis’ office reiterated the point that the utility companies operating in the state already have plans to close those plants.

“Colorado utilities have their own ambitious plans to reduce costs, including retiring costly coal plants to transition to more stable clean energy, and lower costs,” Ally Sullivan, a governor’s spokesperson, said in an email. “The EPA’s proposed denial has no meaningful impact on utilities’ plans to move away from coal because it’s no longer the most affordable or reliable option.”

Utilty wants to keep plant open

However, the EPA’s notice in the Federal Register stated that Colorado Springs Utilities told the agency in April that it wants to exclude its Ray D. Nixon Power Plant in Fountain from the state’s 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.

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.

“The market for renewable energy resources across the country is tremendously challenging with ongoing supply chain congestion and regulatory uncertainty — resulting in renewable energy resources being three to five times more expensive than originally forecasted,” she said in an email.

Nieves said the utility is supportive of the EPA’s recommendation to exclude Nixon from the regional haze plan “because Colorado doesn’t 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.”

Spokeswoman Michelle Aguayo said Xcel remains committed to retiring its coal units — including the Comanche Generating Station in Pueblo — by the end of 2030.

“Nothing in this action from the Environmental Protection Agency directly changes our Colorado resource plans,” she said in an emailed statement.

Although Western said that “what Colorado does is Colorado’s business,” the EPA’s 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.

The EPA also argues — although without specific evidence — that forcing the closures would violate Colorado state law.

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 that leaches contaminants such as lithium and selenium into groundwater.

‘Turning that progress backwards’

Coal emissions help create a haze in the skies, and that haze has become a problem at national parks 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’s Colorado program manager.

“We are still in a situation where there is significant regional haze in Colorado,” Copolla said. “It goes for miles and miles and miles.”

Ulla Reeves, the National Park Conservation Association’s clean air program director, said the EPA’s proposal is undercutting Colorado’s progress to clean its air.

“Colorado had one of the strongest plans that we’ve seen in the entire country,” Reeves said. “This is really turning that progress backwards. It’s extremely concerning what the EPA is doing here and undercutting the state’s authority.”

The EPA opened a 60-day public comment period on the proposed rule and multiple environmental groups said they plan to weigh in. They hope Colorado does as well.

“The state really needs to flex its muscles and try to stymie the feds,” Nichols said.

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