A lot is riding on Senate Bill 26-022.
If it passes, Colorado Springs Utilities will be allowed to keep the coal-fired Ray D. Nixon Power Plant running, possibly for another 14 years. That would mean the plant, five miles south of Fountain, would continue to churn out over 1.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and other pollutants per year. Utilities officials say that passage of the bill also would mean better odds that customers’ bills would remain relatively stable in the near term.
If the bill fails, though, Utilities would face a choice: It could opt to keep Nixon in operation beyond 2029 in defiance of the state’s 2019 mandate to reduce carbon emissions by 80%, as compared to 2005 levels, by 2030. But doing so could bring air quality fines of up to $47,357 a day. (That’s $1.4 million a month.) Or, it could close Nixon on time and risk paying more to buy power elsewhere – or try to get by with less generating capacity, chancing blackouts as its supply becomes less reliable…