NERC 2026 State of Reliability Bears Warnings for Colorado
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) 2026 State of Reliability report contains lessons for Colorado’s electricity sector. While the grid as a whole “continues to deliver reliable electric service,” challenges are mounting thanks in part to the “declining availability of aging combustion generation.” NERC’s report finds that power plants failed more in 2025, with the fleet-wide forced outage rate climbing to 9.2 percent against “historical norms rarely exceeding” 8 percent. Coal-fired […]
Xcel Says It Can’t Shut Down its Coal Plants by 2030. Believe Them.
Xcel Energy’s March 2 filing with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) reads like a company trying to get ahead of a crisis. On paper, it might be just a simple status update about Comanche Unit 3, a coal-fired plant near Pueblo, which is undergoing repairs. Instead, Xcel sounds the alarm about grid reliability. According […]
More proof that Xcel’s Colorado Energy Plan won’t save ratepayers money
By Brit Naas A major stipulation of Xcel’s Colorado Energy Plan (CEP) is a reduction in the utility’s coal fired generation. If the Public utilities Commission approves the plan, Xcel will close Comanche Units 1 and 2, which combined are capable of providing 660 megawatts of electricity. In compliance with the CEP, Xcel hopes to […]
Xcel’s backroom deal likely to screw ratepayers…again
Rumor has it that Colorado’s largest monopoly utility Xcel Energy is about to renege on a 2004 settlement that cost ratepayers dearly. And, Xcel will do it with the Governor John Hickenlooper’s blessing. Why? Because they don’t want to change their Electric Resource Plan (ERP) as I (and likely others) have suggested they should do […]
