Coal-fired power plant in northwestern Colorado still set for 2028 closure despite Trump administration orders

The coal-fired Craig Station is still set to close in 2028 — even as the Trump administration is making a drive to keep coal units going — according to the operator’s electric resource plan filed with Colorado utility regulators on April 11.

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, which runs the plant, says in its preferred plan that the Craig Unit 1 will close by the end of this year and units 2 and 3 will be shuttered in 2028. 

Battery storage and a natural gas-fired plant will be added in Moffat County as part of the plan.

Three days before Tri-State filed its plan with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to expand production of “beautiful clean coal” and a proclamation easing Environmental Protection Agency standards for the plants.

A second presidential executive order was aimed at blocking state environmental and clean energy policies it called “burdensome and ideologically motivated ‘climate change’ or energy policies.”

In response, Gov. Jared Polis called the Trump administration’s action “federal overreach.”

“We are evaluating the executive orders,” Lee Boughey, a Tri-State spokesperson, said in an email. “Tri-State’s preferred plan reflects previously announced retirements, driven primarily by economics for Craig Station.”

Even nuclear generation outpaces coal in the U.S.

Coal’s share of electricity generation in the U.S. dropped to 16% in 2023 from a peak of 53% in 1997. An estimated 780 coal-fired units have been closed since 2000.

While declining prices for wind and solar generation have contributed to the decline, the big spur was the unlocking of big natural gas reserves that made the fuel abundant and cheap.

Natural gas fired generation’s share of total output more than doubled between 1990 and 2023 to 43% of all electricity supplies, making it the prime source of electricity generation.

Renewables — wind, solar and hydropower — made up 21% of electricity supplies in 2023, also eclipsing coal. Nuclear power accounted for 18%.

“There’s a reason that Tri-State and utilities across the country are retiring coal, and that’s because it’s really expensive to mine and really expensive to burn,” Eric Frankowski, executive director of Western Clean Energy Campaign, said in an email.

“There are much more affordable — and far cleaner — ways to generate electricity, and executive orders aren’t going to change those underlying economics,” Frankowski said.

In its electric resource plan, Tri-State — which provides power to 41 rural electric cooperatives, including 16 in Colorado — proposes adding 1,657 megawatts of new generation and storage across its four-state territory.

While Tri-State operates the 1,285 MW Craig Station and has the largest share in the plant, four other utilities have a stake — PacifiCorp, the Salt River Project, the Platte River Power Authority and Xcel Energy.

Some natural gas is necessary to shore up generating capacity 

When it closes the Craig Station, Tri-State said it will add a 307 MW natural gas plant with ability to blend up to 30% hydrogen into the fuel and 200 MW of battery storage in Moffat County.

“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,” Craig Mayor Chris Nichols said in a statement.

Overall, Tri-State’s electric resource plan calls for 300 MW of solar, 400 MW of wind and 650 MW of battery storage across Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico. Tri-State also provides some service in Nebraska.

The 11 projects included in the plan were selected from 145 project bids made by developers.

The plan also includes replacing five combustion turbines at an existing natural gas plant, J.M. Shafer Station in Fort Lupton, with new turbines that can also use a hydrogen-mix fuel, bringing the station’s capacity to 281 MW from 272 MW.

“Due to the significant increase in renewable energy on the regional grid, these limited natural gas projects are critical for shoring-up capacity during times of high demand, low renewable output, or extreme weather conditions,” Tri-State CEO Duane Highley said in a statement.

By 2030 Tri-State said it will get 70% of its electricity from renewable sources and will have cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% from 2005 levels, which is a state requirement for utilities.

Six additional coal-fired units in Colorado — operated by Xcel Energy, Colorado Springs Utilities, and the Platte River Power Authority — are slated to close between 2025 and 2031.

Xcel Energy is slated to close its Hayden power plant, in Routt County, by 2028 and its Comanche 3 Unit, in Pueblo, by 2030.

 “We’re aware of the executive order and announcement regarding critical resources, and we’re reviewing the orders to understand whether they could impact our operations,” Michelle Aguayo, an Xcel Energy spokesperson, said in an email.

Two units — Xcel Energy’s Comanche 1 Unit and Colorado Springs’ Martin Drake plant — have already closed.

“Minus the political pandering, it makes zero sense to try to force coal back into the picture,” Frankowski said. “You might as well issue executive orders forcing a return to horses and buggies or typewriters.”