The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday determined Colorado cannot order the closure of coal-fired power plants under the Clean Air Act, and, therefore, the agency will deny the state’s plan to reduce the haze that clouds views at Rocky Mountain National Park and other federal lands.
The move is part of the Trump administration’s push to make sure no federal regulations stand in the way of restoring the coal industry and powering the electric grid with the fossil fuel, which pollutes the air with carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, soot and other chemicals that contribute to climate change and harm human health.
Those coal emissions also help create a haze that dims visibility for people experiencing the outdoors, something that is important to Colorado’s economy and state identity. Colorado is required to find ways to reduce that haze under the Clean Air Act. To do so, the state had proposed shuttering coal plants — a move that would also help meet its goal to eliminate almost all greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The EPA signaled in July that it would at least partially deny Colorado’s plan to reduce haze, but on Friday, it kicked the entire strategy back to the state for a rewrite. If Colorado declines to write a new plan, then the EPA could impose one on the state.
The EPA, in a news release, said Colorado cannot shut down coal-fired power plants without consent from the utilities that run them, and, therefore, the mandate does not comply with the Clean Air Act. The plants are vital to supplying reliable and affordable electricity, and it is not necessary to close them to meet the federal regional haze requirements, according to the news release.
Most utilities in the state have plans in place to retire their coal-burning plants and to transition to cleaner power sources such as solar, wind, batteries and natural gas.
However, Colorado Springs Utilities wants to exclude its Ray D. Nixon Power Plant in Fountain from the state’s closure plans. The utility is scheduled to close Nixon in 2029, but its management has said it is having difficulties finding resources for the transition to renewable energy.
Xcel Energy last year received permission to keep one coal-burning plant open longer because it needs to repair another, larger plant that is scheduled to close in 2030.
The EPA will assist Colorado in creating a regional haze plan that fulfills all statutory requirements, the news release said.
Previously, Colorado regulators have said the EPA’s denial of Colorado’s plans will not have an impact because the retirement dates for all of the state’s remaining coal plants remain enforceable under state law and the transition already is underway.
However, on Dec. 30, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright issued an emergency order to keep an aging coal-fired power plant in Craig operating even though it is broken, out of operation and was scheduled to be retired at the end of 2025. The order left Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association in a bind as it tries to figure out how to comply with the order and restart a broken, 45-year-old plant.
Environmentalists and park conservationists oppose the EPA’s plan to support the coal industry.
Jeremy Nichols, a senior advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, said the EPA is mistaken in its decision because Colorado had submitted a “landmark proposal” that would have benefited Colorado’s open spaces, air quality and residents who need to breathe clean air.
“It’s beyond crooked how brazen they are in doing the bidding of the coal industry,” Nichols said. “Obviously, a war has been declared against Colorado by the Trump administration and this is another continuation of it.”
Ulla Reeves, the National Park Conservation Association’s clean air program director, previously told The Denver Post that the agency is undercutting Colorado’s progress to clean its air.
“Colorado had one of the strongest plans that we’ve seen in the entire country,” Reeves said. “This is really turning that progress backwards. It’s extremely concerning what the EPA is doing here and undercutting the state’s authority.”
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