The Pikes Peak Bulletin received more than a half-dozen letters to the editor in favor of the original Ray Nixon Power Plant closure date.
For background, read Colorado Springs seeks bill to keep Ray Nixon coal plant open past 2029 closure deadline in The Colorado Sun and Colorado Springs Utilities enlists state lawmakers to keep Ray Nixon Power Plant running into 2030 from CPR.
Some links within the letters below have been added by the editor for reader reference.
Do you have an opinion to voice? Send your letter to the editor to [email protected].
Retire the Nixon coal plant on schedule
The deadline for the Nixon coal plant should be 2029, and not extend beyond that year. Delaying retirement will increase the potential for greater coal-generated pollution, which is an issue along the Colorado Front Range, especially since it contributes and exacerbates respiratory related illnesses; e.g., asthma and heart disease. I believe Colorado Springs needs to support Colorado’s Clean Energy Plan goals, which includes increasing the use of renewable energy options, instead of coal.
The Nixon coal plant is decades old and is increasingly expensive to manage. Coal is not only one of the dirtiest energy sources, but also one of the most expensive, which may increase monthly bills for the citizens of Colorado Springs. I urge the city to invest more in solar, wind and battery storage which has demonstrated to be less expensive and more reliable sources of energy in Colorado.
Colorado Springs needs an environmental vision for the city – one that encompasses the future of its citizens, including children and the elderly. Maintaining a coal plant beyond 2029 does not make sense. It’s time for the city to promote clean air and fair and predictable bills, instead of the rising costs of an aging coal plant. Colorado Springs City Council [which also the board for Colorado Springs Utilities], please retire the Nixon Coal plant in 2029, and seek new and healthier solutions for the city and El Paso County!
G.C. Marx
Ray Nixon coal-fired plant should go
As a mother of three (including a newborn!) and resident of Colorado Springs, I am deeply concerned about efforts to keep the polluting Ray Nixon coal-fired power plant operating beyond its planned closure. (See: EDITORIAL: Keeping the lights on in Colorado Springs and Colorado Springs lawmakers and EPA push to keep Ray Nixon Power Plant open in the Colorado Springs Gazette).
Burning coal to light and heat our homes is more expensive than using renewable sources, like wind and solar, no matter what the fossil fuel industry and its supporters claim. (Editor’s note: For reference, see Is Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Fossil Fuels? from SmartEnergy.com).
In 2020, Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) wisely made the decision to close the polluting, coal-fired Ray Nixon generating facilities near Fountain by 2029. That was great news for clean, cheaper energy for CSU customers, for better air quality, and for our family budget.
Now, five years later, after doing little to develop clean, affordable resources to replace Nixon, CSU officials are claiming that the plant needs to stay open longer because of reliability issues, and unfortunately they’ve convinced area legislators of both parties that the plant needs to keep operating into 2030, with no plan whatsoever for when or how it would replace Nixon. As a mom of young kids, this is incredibly frustrating.
CSU should have been making progress toward renewable energy sources, and the Colorado legislature shouldn’t reward them for bad planning and disingenuous arguments.
My children, including my days-old child, are counting on lawmakers to do the right thing to protect their health as they grow up from further air pollution in Colorado Springs. And with expenses continuing to rise, our growing family is counting on more affordable energy for our budget. It’s long past time that we stop wasting ratepayer money on dirty, expensive coal and start using clean, affordable renewable energy.
Sincerely,
Erin Doughan
Renewable is less expensive
Colorado Springs Utilities planned to close the Nixon coal plant in Fountain, CO by 2029 to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to comply with Colorado state law. Unfortunately, Colorado Springs Utilities wants to go back on this promise and keep the Nixon coal plant open longer than planned. CSU says delaying the closure of Nixon will maintain “affordability” for the community. However, it will actually cost ratepayers more money!
The notion that running an old coal is more affordable than alternative electricity sources is completely false. Nixon is an aging coal plant that is increasingly expensive to run and maintain. A Sierra Club study found that delaying the closure of Nixon would be one of the most expensive options to serve the electricity needs of Colorado Springs residents, especially because CSU would miss out on expiring federal tax credits. An old, expensive coal plant means, you guessed it, higher costs for ratepayers like you and me.
The Nixon coal plant could be replaced with renewables and battery storage which are now the cheapest sources of new electricity in the U.S. beating out natural gas and definitely beating out coal. Renewables are already cheaper, faster to build and reliable sources of electricity and this is the direction CSU should be headed instead of burying their heads in the coal stack.
Keep our electricity bills from rising! Colorado Springs City Council [which also acts as the CSU board] needs to close Nixon by 2029.
Haley Northrup
Colorado Springs deserves a safe and clean future
Back in 2020, Colorado Springs Utilities and City Council [which serves as CSU’s board] agreed to close the Ray D. Nixon coal-fired power plant by the end of 2029 to meet the power sector’s 80% reduction target. Yet, Colorado Springs Utilities, in conjunction with local legislators’ introduction of bill SB26-022, has stated that it is re-examining its commitment to the plant’s retirement, distancing itself from the state’s long-agreed-upon clean energy reduction targets.
The decision of local legislators and Colorado Springs Utilities will produce lasting and significant economic and health impacts for Colorado Springs residents that could have easily been avoided. This decision must neither be ignored nor taken lightly.
Colorado Springs residents deserve affordable and predictable bills. They deserve to trust that their representatives will keep promises to their constituents. They deserve a future built on trust, transparency, and affordability.
As a student in Colorado Springs and as a constituent of Representative Amy Paschal, I call on her to reconsider her support of SB26-022 and consider cheaper, cleaner energy alternatives that would benefit not only her immediate constituents but the future of our state. I call on my fellow residents to urge their representatives to oppose Ray Nixon’s continued operations and to support our state’s planned transfer to clean energy.
Madeleine Louisell
Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU): “Keep The Promise”
CSU wants to keep the Nixon Coal power plant open. CSU is promoting SB 26-022 to extend Nixon’s unclean operation beyond 2029. This should concern all area residents and CSU ratepayers. In 2020, CSU made a commitment to retire the plant by the end of 2029 in exchange for avoiding requirements to install NOx scrubbers. But CSU neither had nor has a plan for retiring the plant: instead it intends to break its promise.
Energy affordability is on everyone’s minds. Operating and Maintaining coal plants is more expensive than clean energy sources with storage. Federal tax credits for utilities are still available, but we need to act NOW. CSU is the only Colorado municipal utility asking for an extension. Travas Deal and his team have failed to achieve goals that other utilities are achieving. Leadership failures could trap us with expensive energy and pollution. CSU customers will pay the price with future rates higher than other Coloradans.
Meanwhile the Nixon plant has continued to blanket the region with unabated NOx and particulate pollution. Now CSU is expecting military personnel, veterans, and our neighbors in Fountain to endure its pollution, exacerbating respiratory issues and negatively impacting military personnel health and readiness. It’s time for this to end.
CSU leadership’s lack of transparency, neglect of community engagement, and failure to timely and accurately communicate was demonstrated in the “rate case” debacle. This pattern raises the question: Is CSU’s failure (1) mismanagement, (2) deception, or (3) bad faith? CSU leadership would do well to remember that they work for the people of Colorado Springs. “Keep The Promise.”
To our legislators and City Council: Please hold CSU accountable for its failures rather than granting it more time to dither. We deserve better.
Beth Garner/Citizens for Affordable Energy Independence
Letter to the Editor: Colorado Springs Utilities’ coal delay puts public health at risk
As a nurse and board member of Healthy Air & Water Colorado, I see every day how air pollution shows up in exam rooms, emergency departments, and neighborhoods across our region. That’s why I’m deeply concerned about Colorado Springs Utilities’ proposal to delay retirement of the Ray Nixon coal plant through Senate Bill 26-022.
CSU is asking lawmakers for special permission to push back its Clean Energy Plan, citing affordability and reliability. But CSU is the only utility in Colorado seeking this kind of exemption – and it still hasn’t produced a concrete plan for how it would replace the Nixon plant with clean, reliable power. Asking for more time without a plan isn’t responsible energy planning. It’s a gamble with people’s health. Let’s work on solutions together as Coloradans, considering we all breathe the same air.
The Ray Nixon plant is one of the largest sources of harmful air pollution in Colorado. Its emissions worsen asthma, heart disease, and respiratory illness – conditions of many patients I care for. In 2020, CSU promised state regulators it would close the plant by 2029 in exchange for avoiding required pollution controls. Now, it wants to keep burning coal longer without installing those protections. That means continued exposure for nearby communities and higher health care costs for families and taxpayers alike.
Delaying coal retirement isn’t a neutral decision. It means more Colorado children will struggle to breathe, more seniors hospitalized, and more preventable illness in our community and no workable healthier solutions ahead.
Colorado has made real progress toward clean, affordable energy that protects both our wallets and our health. Lawmakers should hold CSU accountable to its commitments – not roll them back at the expense of public health and hope things work out.
Let’s keep Colorado beautiful and breathe in a healthier tomorrow for all.
Laura Howard, BSN, RN
Board Member, Healthy Air & Water Colorado
Colorado Springs, CO
Keeping Nixon open is irresponsible
A bill, SB26-022, was proposed to the state legislature to extend the life of Colorado Springs’ last coal plant, Ray D. Nixon. This bill isn’t conservative; it is reckless. From reliability, economics, health, to climate, keeping Nixon open is irresponsible.
Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) promised to shut down the Nixon coal plant before 2030. It is necessary to adhere to the state’s clean energy plan. Further, the Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) regional haze plan requires Nixon to retire by 2028.
CSU’s CFO, Travas Deal, claims retirement and transition are not economically viable. CSU claimed renewable replacements (solar, wind, and storage) were too expensive. The Sierra Club’s independent analysis says the opposite. National and global trends say the opposite. Keeping Nixon open is also a missed opportunity. With immediate action, CSU would be eligible for disappearing federal clean-energy tax credits.
At 46, Nixon will become increasingly expensive and less reliable. At this age, increased maintenance costs and increased frequency of forced outages are inevitable. Meanwhile, wind and solar experience far fewer unexpected failures. These costs and risks will fall onto ratepayers.
SB26-022 is also a health concern. Nixon produces nitrogen oxides (NOx), mercury, and sulfur dioxide— compounds linked to cancer, respiratory, and cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, each year Nixon pumps 1.27 million tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere. These emissions contribute to climate change, which is and will continue to degrade the natural spaces we love as Coloradans. We are already experiencing climate change. It’s in the lack of snow and the unfamiliar winter warmth. We must do our part.
If SB26-022 passes, CSU would be the only major utility exempt from Colorado’s climate commitments. If other utilities are making it work, why can’t we? Stop this madness, shut Nixon down!
Marissa Banuelos