Thomas Young, thomas.young@sierraclub.org
Denver, CO -- This morning, community leaders and elected officials met virtually to deliver a Letter of Principles to Xcel Energy regarding its upcoming Electric Resource Plan (ERP), a process for long-term energy planning. The letter is signed by over 4,000 Xcel ratepayers and Pueblo residents, as well as over 80 elected officials across Colorado who get their electricity from Xcel and want to see the state’s largest utility transition more quickly away from polluting coal and gas plants and toward clean energy.
“As the third largest city in Colorado, Aurora has so much to gain from the jobs, manufacturing, and cost savings that come with a clean energy economy,” said Juan Marcano, the City Council Representative of Aurora’s 4th Ward. “Our community could also hugely benefit from better energy efficiency programs that translate into lower electricity bills. Xcel Energy could help us with that as part of their new plan.”
The letter includes 9 principles ranging from retiring coal, minimizing the use of gas, maximizing clean energy and energy efficiency, ensuring the transition benefits impacted communities, and including impacted communities and workers in decision making. Local elected officials from cities that are committed to 100% renewable energy were among those who signed the letter.
“Denver is committed to 100% renewable energy by 2030 and we can’t get there if we have a gas plant still burning fossil fuels in our community,” said Denver City Councilmember, Candi Cdebaca, referring to the Cherokee gas plant in North Denver. “It’s time for Xcel Energy’s leadership to pursue a plan that puts people ahead of pollution.”
“Lafayette is one of 16 cities in Colorado committed to delivering 100% renewable energy to its residents,” said Lafayette Mayor, Jamie Harkins. “Communities like mine need Xcel Energy to use their upcoming planning process to present a clear plan for a 100% clean energy future.”
Following several coal retirement announcements from other Colorado utilities this year, Xcel Energy is the only utility in the state without plans to retire all of its coal units by 2030. Xcel operates Colorado’s largest source of carbon pollution, the Comanche 3 coal plant located in Pueblo. The letter asks that Xcel “retire the maximum number of coal units that is cost-effective.” A 2019 report by Strategen found that retiring Xcel’s all of coal plants and replacing them with solar or wind by 2023 could save customers between $180 million and $360 million.
“Today, people in Pueblo are left with all of the pollution and health problems from Xcel Energy’s Comanche coal plant and none of the energy,” said Jamie Valdez, the Pueblo Team Coordinator of Mothers Out Front, referring to Pueblo getting its electricity from Black Hills, not Xcel. “Comanche 3 is expected to be the last coal plant to burn coal in Colorado and we need to move its retirement up as early as possible so that my community isn’t bearing the burden of pollution to power other Front Range communities.”
Per a law passed by the Colorado Legislature in 2019, Xcel must make plans to reduce its carbon emissions 80% by 2030 from 2005 levels. These plans are expected to help meet the state’s climate goals that require economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions reductions of 50% by 2030. A report released this month by Sierra Club and NRDC finds that reductions for the electric sector need to be more than 90% by 2030 and will need to include coal retirement by 2030 at the latest. But community leaders aren’t just concerned about coal.
“Xcel must make plans to retire the rest of its coal plants in Colorado, but gas-fired power plants are not a viable replacement option,” says Sunni Benoit, President of the Board for 350 Colorado. “Xcel already owns thousands of megawatts of gas-fired plants in our state and it’s already thousands of megawatts too many.”
Notably, today’s event was among some of the first calls for Xcel to retire the Cherokee gas plant in North Denver early. Speakers highlighted that 67,000 people live within 3 miles of the plant, which is located near Commerce City at the intersection of I-25 and I-70. That population is within the 91st percentile in Colorado for minority population and the 83rd percentile in Colorado for low-income population, according to the EPA’s EJ Screen tool. S&P Global reports that in the 2 full years the Cherokee gas plant has been operating with gas as the primary fuel (2018 and 2019), it emitted nearly 2 million pounds of NOx, a precursor to smog and secondary particulate matter that pollutes the local community.
“Xcel needs to do right by the communities that are hurt by its energy choices,” said Lucy Molena, a Commerce City based community organizer. “Include us meaningfully in your planning processes and keep your dirty fossil fuels like Cherokee gas plant out of our neighborhoods.”
Xcel’s ERP is due to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission in March, 2020.
“We’re delivering this letter today to give Xcel plenty of time to plan to honor our requests before next spring. Our message to Xcel is this: don’t let us down,” said Ren Smith, the Fossil Free Front Range Organizer for Sierra Club.
The letter is still available for others to sign, here.
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About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.