A two-year study and discussion led the Platte River Power Authority board on Thursday to approve an Integrated Resource Plan that includes the addition of a new gas-fired power plant and allows PRPA to move ahead with its plan to retire the coal-fired Rawhide Unit 1 by 2030.
In the Integrated Resource Plan, or IRP, staff concluded a zero-coal portfolio was the best option to help the power provider reach its long-term goal of relying on noncarbon resources by 2030.
The plan is expected to reduce emissions by “relying extensively on renewable energy and using natural gas to maintain system reliability at a relatively low cost to the owner communities,” according to the language in the plan.
The option would meet the requirement of 80% carbon dioxide reductions from 2005 levels, according to the plan for the wholesale electricity generation and transmission provider that delivers power to Longmont, Estes Park, Fort Collins and Loveland.
Joseph Bernosky, director of Loveland Water and Power and PRPA board member, endorsed staff’s recommendation and said, “The entire American energy industry has been undergoing significant change over the past decade. It has committed itself to a carbon-free future primarily only to projections and models. … PRPA has chosen a sound and incremental low-carbon future.”
Bernosky also said he felt adopting a zero-carbon option now would be fiscally unwise and would lead to an increase in rates because the technology is currently unreliable.
Board member Ross Cunniff, also a Fort Collins City Council member, said the option approved Thursday is an interim step in the process and the plan is dramatically improved because of the community’s involvement.
“We’re not done … I know we could delay to 2021. I think we will get a better plan if we stop this process, adopt the IRP and then start moving forward with next steps immediately,” Cunniff said.
Jacki March, board member and mayor of Loveland, suggested the IRP vote be postponed to two months prior to its due date in 2021. With only days to the election and with the possibility of an administration change, she was hopeful more resources could be devoted to renewable energy. She also said she felt the plan approved Thursday moves the goal to be carbon-free by 2030 further out of reach.
Several board members, including Longmont Mayor Brian Bagley, said approving the portfolio passed Thursday does not change PRPA’s overall carbon-free goals.
Bagley compared the plan’s approval to having a contingency position to ensure PRPA will not fail its constituents by increasing rates to unaffordable levels or having unreliable energy sources.
“It allows us to be flexible and allows us to get going,” Bagley said.
The decision drew fire from some environmental groups for its potential reliance on natural gas.
The Sierra Club, in a news release, said, “PRPA is now the only utility in Colorado with plans to build new, permanent fossil fuel-powered generation. Other utilities are finding hundreds of millions worth of savings by closing coal and gas plants and building new clean energy infrastructure.”
Elizabeth Bridgewater, Fort Collins leader for Sunrise Movement, in a news release said, “It is vital that we take more assertive action to combat the climate crisis. The Sunrise Fort Collins hub remains committed to advocating against new fossil fuel infrastructure in Northern Colorado and fighting for a livable and equitable future for all! This fight is not over.”
The plan passed 7-1, with Marsh voting against.
