The coal-fired Drake Power Station, located in the city of Colorado Springs, has supplied residents with energy since it was built in 1925.
It started to transition away from coal in August last year, switching its remaining generators to run on natural gas instead. It also wound down its operations, with its generators only serving as peak load units when needed.
The decommissioning was sparked by a clean energy policy, the Sustainable Energy Plan, adopted by the Colorado Springs Utilities group in 2020. The plan aims to reduce carbon emissions by at least 80 percent by 2030 and retire all coal generation by that same year.
In a press release from Colorado Springs Utilities, Utilities Board Chair Wayne Williams said the decision to close the “inefficient” plant was made after “an extensive public process.”
“Not only was the retirement of this aging coal-fired power plant the right decision from an environmental and financial perspective, it also creates options for enhancing our community’s economic vitality,” he added.
However, John Suthers, Colorado Springs mayor, called the plant’s closure a “bittersweet” moment that “marks the end of an era.” He said the city would move forward with cleaner energy that would still be “reliable and affordable.”
Aram Benyamin, Chief Executive Officer for Springs Utilities, said he was “extremely grateful” to employees who kept the plant running as well as those who helped reach the “vital milestone” of its closure.
Coal power has been one of the most crucial sources of energy in the United States, producing roughly 30 percent of all electricity in the country, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists.
However, its environmental impact is forcing a move towards other, cleaner sources of power like wind and solar.
When burned, coal releases carbon dioxide plus a number of airborne toxins and pollutants like mercury, lead, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and more. This pollution is linked to health problems like asthma, cancer, and neurological problems, as well as global warming and other severe environmental impacts.
As a state, Colorado largely relies on coal power for its electricity. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that in 2019, coal produced over 25,300 thousand megawatt hours of electricity for Colorado, with the next-highest source being natural gas at around 17,000.
Renewable energy—wind power, mostly—made up a minor but not insignificant part of Colorado’s electricity generation that same year with 12,233 thousand megawatt hours produced from renewable sources.
In short, it would require profound infrastructure changes in a short period of time for the rest of Colorado to follow suit with the clean energy plan adopted by Colorado Springs.
For now, six natural gas power units are being installed just outside the former Drake Power Plant, which are set to come online in early 2023 and also serve peak load generation. They will remain on site until 2027 when they are expected to be relocated to other parts of the system.
By early 2024, Colorado Springs aims to add the Pike Solar project to its grid system as well as up to 100 megawatts of battery storage. By then, it is hoped that renewable energy will represent just over a quarter of Colorado Springs Utilities’ energy portfolio.
