What is the best replacement for Xcel’s Comanche coal-fired power plant in Pueblo?

We need to replace fossil fuel electricity as quickly as possible. 

We’re already experiencing the costs of our fossil-fueled electricity grid. Pollution from coal and gas power plants are warming the planet and changing our climate, including an increase in extreme weather here in Colorado. 

And a warmer climate fuels our ozone pollution days. The American Lung Association ranked the Denver-Aurora area as 6th worst for ozone pollution, which can cause harmful health effects including lung damage, worsening of existing respiratory conditions such as asthma, and cardiovascular disease. 

The good news – one of Colorado’s largest single sources of climate warming pollution, Xcel Energy’s Comanche coal-fired power plant in Pueblo, is scheduled to close by 2031. 

Xcel’s proposed replacement plan is due October 15 and must be reviewed and approved by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission in 2025. 

Renewable energy like wind, solar and geothermal, combined with storage and battery systems, and reducing waste via energy efficiency programs, is the best replacement for this massive coal-fired power plant because they are clean, have vast potential and are increasingly cost effective.

100% renewable is the solution

Solar and wind can provide a lot more energy than we would ever need. 

For example, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, U.S. electricity consumption in 2020 was 3.6 million GWh. But the technical potential was 40 million GWh for wind power and 284 million GWh for solar – many times larger than what we currently need. 

And that’s true in Colorado as well. Our state’s wind potential is 19x our 2020 electricity demand and the solar potential is 183x.  

Solar and wind technology have also made incredible advances and the costs are plummeting. 

• Solar – In 2019, the median new residential solar panel was 37 percent more efficient than one installed in 2010. And between 2009 and 2020, the cost of utility-scale solar dropped by 90 percent.
• Wind – In 2019, the average installed wind turbine had 42 percent greater power capacity than one installed in 2010. And between 2009 and 2020, the cost of wind power dropped by 71 percent. 

Battery technology has also advanced improving the reliability of wind and solar power by capturing the energy for times when it is most useful. 

For example, battery storage capacity has skyrocketed as the cost per watt-hour of utility-scale battery storage has fallen dramatically, down 70 percent from 2015 to 2018. 

Looking to the west, we can see the possibilities of 100% renewable energy in action as California managed to hit 100 days so far this year when renewable energy provided 100% of the electricity for the entire grid (ranging from 5 minutes to a few hours).

Energy efficiency and reducing waste can accelerate our 100% renewable future

To move as quickly as possible to a pollution-free grid is not just about building a massive amount of new wind and solar and investing big in batteries and storage that maximize the reliability of renewables.

We can accelerate our transition to renewables by being smarter about our energy use including eliminating waste and getting more out of what we use.

According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, energy efficiency can cut U.S. energy use in half by 2050.

It’s a lot easier and quicker to replace half our current electricity with renewables if we don’t even need the other half. 

In addition, energy efficiency strategies can reduce the need for fossil fuel power plants designed to switch on to handle days when energy demand soars (think really hot days in the summer when air conditioners are cranking or really cold days in the winter if home heating systems were primarily electric-powered heat pumps instead of gas).

Research from 2019 found that demand response programs (things like smart thermostats, advanced metering infrastructure, geotargeted efficiency programs and energy management and information systems) could cut 20 percent off peak load levels by 2030, reducing the need for methane gas power plants whose main purpose is to switch on at peak times. 

Less waste and more renewables is better for consumers

Ultimately, we pay for the investments our utilities make. And because Xcel’s opportunity to profit goes up the more it spends, it has an incentive to overspend on more power plant capacity than Colorado actually needs.

That’s why it’s important that the Colorado Public Utilities Commission ensures Xcel’s replacement plan is the smartest, most effective way to achieve a 100% renewable energy future. 

In the long-run, eliminating waste and making energy efficiency upgrades provides the best benefits – the cheapest and cleanest energy is the energy we don’t need to use. 

Investing in energy efficiency in people’s homes can not only reduce their own bills but can also reduce the overall energy demand on our grid, reducing the amount of new anything we need to build. 

And with renewable energy costs dropping, fueled by free wind and sunshine, and the advancement of battery and storage technology, the choice is clear – any new power generation should be 100% renewable.