The Big Short(fall): Colorado’s Upcoming Power Plant Closures and Planned Replacements

By Ethan Cornell* Introduction The data summarizing planned generation closures in Colorado signals a rapid and profound infrastructural transformation. The schedule details the planned retirement of 10 major coal-fired units between 2025 and 2031, collectively representing a loss of nearly 4,200 megawatts (MW) of nameplate capacity. The primary policy question this raises is whether the […]
Colorado Energy Office’s Economic Hindenburg: The Ballooning Costs of the Hydrogen Transition

In October 2023, the Biden Administration awarded $7 billion of taxpayer dollars to kickstart the development of regional hydrogen hubs. These hydrogen hubs will independently explore new ways to lower the cost of producing so-called clean hydrogen and find new and innovative uses for hydrogen fuel. While Colorado’s proposal for a Western Interstate Hydrogen Hub […]