Comanche 2 Coal Power Plant: Public Service Company of Colorado/Colorado Energy Office Petitions Colorado Public Utilities Commission to Delay Retirement

A November 10th Petition was filed to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (“PUC”) to delay the retirement of the Comanche 2 (“C2”) coal power plant until 2026. See PROCEEDING NO. 25V-____E.

C2 is owned by the Public Service Company of Colorado (“Public Service”).

The Petition was filed by the following parties:                    

• Trial Staff of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission
• Colorado Energy Office
• Colorado Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate
• Public Service Company of Colorado

(Collectively, “Colorado”).

The Petition asks for a variance from Decision No. C18-0761:

… AND ANY OTHER REQUIREMENTS, REQUEST FOR A SHORTENED NOTICE AND INTERVENTION PERIOD, AND REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF ASSOCIATED PROCEDURES.

Colorado argues that good cause exists to grant a variance, and the limited modification of the planned C2 retirement date is in the public interest.

The requested revised retirement date is December 31, 2026.

Colorado argues that the continued operation of C2 in 2026 is the most cost-effective approach to provide needed electricity for the system.

The overall rationale put forth by Colorado supporting the extension of the retirement date to 2026 include:

• Electric resource planning proceedings have assumed the retirement of Comanche Unit 2 at year-end 2025 for several years dating back to 2018 when the PUC issued Decision No. C18-0761.
• Ensuing years have brought numerous changes in state policy, federal policy, resource planning, and power procurement.
• Increasing peak load growth over that timeframe is requiring incremental resources to serve this demand.
• Supply chain challenges, tariff uncertainties, and changes to federal law have led to delayed in-servicing of resources that could have helped address this challenge, which affected C2’s owner’s loads and resources projections.
• C2’s owner has updated its resource accreditation and planning reserve margin development approaches based on industry best practices and resulting greater than anticipated resource needs.

Components of the Petition include:

• Comanche Unit 3 outage and the need for C2 in 2026.
• Increasing Peak Demand in Public Service Territory.
• Supply Chain and Geopolitical Issues.
• Resource Accreditation and Planning Reserve Margin Changes.
• Next Steps.
  • Step 1: March 1, 2026 Report (update on the repair and return to service status of Comanche Unit 3).
  • Step 2: June 1, 2026 Application (application for any additional variances or resource approvals).

A copy of the Petition can be found here.