Allen Best/Special to The Daily Sentinel
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association's coal-fired Craig Generating Station.
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association is hoping to build a 307-megawatt natural-gas-fired power plant in Moffat County and contract for a 200-megawatt battery storage facility there to help offset the impacts of shutting down the coal-fired Craig Station power plant in that same county.
Tri-State included the plans Friday in a report it filed with the state Public Utilities Commission for its consideration.
The report is technically called its 2023 Electric Resource Plan (ERP) Phase II Implementation Report. After an uncontested settlement of the first phase of that resource planning process, Tri-State last September issued requests for proposals for new renewable, storage and dispatchable power resources, and then modeled six unique portfolios to evaluate bid selection, it said in a news release. It said its preferred portfolio is the lowest-cost mix of generating resources.
They include 700 megawatts of solar, solar/battery hybrid and wind renewable power purchases in four states including Colorado, and 650 megawatts of contracted battery and battery/solar hybrid projects in Colorado and New Mexico, including the 200-megawatt Moffat County project proposed to come online in 2030. A 50-megawatt battery project would be located in another western Colorado location that Tri-State hasn’t yet disclosed and would begin operating in 2026.
In addition, a 307-megawatt natural gas combustion turbine facility with hydrogen-blend capability is proposed for Moffat County. It would come online in 2029 and be owned by Tri-State.
Tri-State hasn’t yet released cost estimates for the projects or specific locations for the proposed Moffat County projects.
Tri-State operates the 1,285-megawatt Craig Station coal-fired plant. One of the plant’s three generation units, which is co-owned by Tri-State and other utilities, is scheduled to close by the end of this year. A unit owned only by Tri-State is to close by the start of 2028, and a last, co-owned unit is slated to close by Sept. 30, 2028. The closures also will impact two nearby coal mines that only supply the plant, meaning the loss of hundreds of jobs in and around Moffat County.
President Trump recently signed orders aimed at trying to help the coal industry, including by trying to help some coal-fired power plants stay open longer. Tri-State spokesman Mark Stutz said the company is reviewing the administration’s executive orders, “and we remain focused on investing in new resources to reliably and affordably serve our members’ growing electricity demand across the rural West.” He said nothing has changed regarding the planned closure dates for the Craig Station.
Tri-State has been seeking to transition to more renewable energy sources due to their affordability, the demand for them by its member utilities that buy its wholesale power, and state clean-energy requirements.
It says its plans will achieve at least an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions associated with its Colorado wholesale electric sales by 2030, relative to a 2005 baseline, and will meet both Colorado and New Mexico’s renewable energy/portfolio standards. It forecasts that 70% of the energy it provides to its members will come from renewable resources in 2030.
It also has been seeking to soften the economic blow to Moffat County and the surrounding region with the Craig Station’s upcoming closure. It already is building a 145-megawatt solar project by the Colowyo Mine, one of the mines that supplies Craig Station.
“These facilities will maintain investment and employment opportunities in Moffat County as the Craig Station retires and ensure Tri-State will continue our long-standing involvement and commitment to the community and northwest Colorado,” Tri-State Chief Executive Officer Duane Highley said in the news release.
The gas-fired plant also would provide Tri-State with a dispatchable energy source that it can turn to as needed at times of reduced solar- and or wind-power generation, or of extreme electricity demand such as during winter deep freezes. Tri-State’s preferred plan also includes replacing five combustion turbines at an existing natural gas plant in Fort Lupton.
“Tri-State’s preferred portfolio presents a resource plan that meets both industry-standard and heightened extreme weather reliability metrics, while also meeting state requirements for greenhouse gas emissions reductions and renewable portfolio standards,” Highley said.
Tri-State says local officials in Craig and Moffat County were an important part of Tri-State’s uncontested settlement for the first phase of its resource plan. That settlement included a commitment that if it built a new gas-fired power plant, it would be in Moffat County.
“The City of Craig fully supports Tri-State’s preferred plan, and we are grateful for Tri-State’s continuing commitment to our community,” Craig Mayor Chris Nichols said in Tri-State’s release. “The (upcoming) retirement of Craig (Station) created uncertainty for our future, and while these new investments will not fully replace Craig Station, the fact that Tri-State stepped up to continue as a significant part of our city has done a great deal to help alleviate those concerns.”
“The fact that Tri-State has committed to continuing as a significant entity in Moffat County for decades to come, just has it has been for decades past, is great news and bodes well for the future of our county, from an investment and tax base perspective,” Moffat County Commissioner Melody Villard said in the release.
