The Colorado Sun’s Mark Jaffe reports that Colorado’s Public Utilities Commission approved Xcel’s request to keep the 50 year old Comanche 2 coal unit in Pueblo running past its planned end of year closure, citing tight generation capacity as Comanche 3 remains broken. Regulators also warned Xcel there is no blank check for Comanche 3 repairs.
The article details months long outages at the newer Comanche 3 unit, commissioners’ skepticism about repair cost estimates, and a reporting regime through June. If Comanche 3 returns midyear, the PUC says both units cannot run at the same time. Large load growth and equipment delays add pressure, but regulators focused the problem on the down coal unit.
The Bullet Point Brief
- PUC lets Comanche 2 run past December to cover capacity shortfalls while Comanche 3 is offline for major repairs.
- Comanche 3 has been plagued by breakdowns since 2010 and is out again after an August turbine trip caused notable damage.
- Commissioners blasted Xcel for lacking firm repair costs and set monthly progress and cost reports through June.
- Consumer and business advocates pushed to shield ratepayers; environmental groups sought tighter limits on coal operations.
- If Comanche 3 is back midyear, the PUC bars running both units at once since Unit 2’s extension is a fill in only.
My Bottom Line
Thank God an adult finally showed up. In this case, it was the state PUC, putting reliability over rhetoric. Colorado has been marching toward higher prices and normalize the brownout vibes because a virtue-signaling legislature set arbitrary green deadlines without firm power to back them up.
Coloradans need affordable, reliable, base load power. That means proven plants that run when the wind dies and the mercury drops. Comanche 2’s extension is a reality check. Keep the lights on now, fix the broken unit, and stop pretending slogans generate electrons.
I appreciate innovation and cleaner tech where it actually works. But public policy cannot placate activist wish lists while families and factories foot the bill. Measure success in cents per kilowatt hour and grid uptime, not press releases. The PUC’s move buys time. Lawmakers should use it to rebuild a portfolio that puts reliability first, affordability second, and politics a distant third.
Source: The Colorado Sun
