Trump's EPA Tries To Slow Shutdown Of CO Coal Plants w/o Result - Springs Plant Will Close On Schedule In 2029
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency informed Colorado Wednesday that the state could not close coal-fired power plants to improve air quality in the West, three months after the agency heard arguments from Colorado Springs Utilities requesting it be allowed to continue burning coal to generate electricity. State regulation in Colorado requires certain coal-fired power plants to close in the coming years. But the EPA wrote in its decision to partially deny the state’s “regional haze” air-quality plan that Colorado did not fully consider “grid reliability” in moving to shutter the plants.
Private utilities are the final decision-makers when it comes to power-plant retirements, said Cyrus Western, EPA’s mountain and plains regional administrator, and the EPA will not exert extra pressure on them to take coal off the grid. “There are not going to be any shutdowns of these coal-fired units because of the federal government breathing down [utility companies’] necks through regulation,” he said in a phone interview.
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The dispute has left it unclear, even to the utility that met with EPA, whether the decision will automatically save coal plants scheduled to close in Colorado. “As of today, we are still scheduled to decommission the coal-fired portion of Ray Nixon Power Plant by 2029,” said Danielle Nieves, senior public affairs specialist for Colorado Springs Utilities. But that timeline poses serious reliability challenges, she added. “We’re still in discussions with the state to address that.”
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“We’re very disappointed that EPA is proposing yet another action under the new administration that is contrary to Congress’ goal that was set out in the Clean Air Act: remedy existing and prevent future haze pollution that harms our parks and wilderness areas,” said Ulla Reeves, director of the National Parks Conservation Association’s clean air program. “We don’t think that EPA’s reasoning is very well-founded here.”
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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/17072025/epa-tries-to-stop-closure-of-colorado-coal-plants/