The Colorado regulator Public Utility Commission (PUC) has approved Xcel Energy's Colorado Energy Plan, which forecasts the closure of 660 MW of coal-fired generation earlier than expected and a strategic shift to renewable energies. Xcel Energy will shut down the first and second units of the 1,410 MW coal-powered Comanche Generating Station in Pueblo (Colorado, United States) and dedicate US$2.5bn in renewable energy and battery storage, which in turn will save local ratepayers approximately US$213m. Once achieved, the plan will increase the company's renewable energy share in its local energy mix to 55% by 2026.
The two concerned units are the 325 MW Comanche-1 (1973) and the 335 MW Comanche-2 (1975) units, which would be shuttered respectively in 2022 and 2025. The 750-MW Comanche-3 supercritical unit was opened in 2010 and will remain online.
The company is quickly switching its capacity base to renewable energies. In July 2017, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved Xcel Energy's plan to invest US$2.5bn to support the development of 1.55 GW of new wind capacity in several US Northern states (Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa).
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