Faced with a 鈥渘ear-existential threat鈥� as a coal-fired power plant and the mines that feed it close, Moffat County and the City of Craig, backed by state officials, want Colorado utility regulators to require the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association to provide up to $118 million in aid.
Tri-State, which operates the coal-fired Craig Station, plans to shutter the plant鈥檚 first unit at the end of this year and . The two local mines that provide the coal are also expected to close.
The closures will leave a large hole in the region鈥檚 taxbase and jobs. In 2023, the power plant and mines provided 43% of property tax revenues for the county and accounted for 437 high-paying jobs.
鈥淐raig and Moffat County face a near-existential threat by the end of this decade,鈥� Wade Buchanan, the director of the state Office of Just Transition, or OJT, said in a filing to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.
鈥淲hen a handful of entities that generate 43% of the property taxes in a community go out of business at the same time, it signals the potential for a broad, deep, and long-lasting 鈥� perhaps even permanent 鈥� decline in economic activity and opportunities ,鈥� Buchanan warned.
By way of comparison, Buchanan said that the loss of the 437 jobs in Moffat County, with a population of 12,000, was the equivalent of the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area losing 141,000 jobs.
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The OJT calculated that Tri-State should provide $118,000,000 in property tax and employment relief.
The filing is part of the PUC assessment of Tri-State鈥檚 Electric Resource Plan, or ERP. Utilities are required to file plans to offer projections of future customer demand and the resources they will use to meet the electricity load.
The plans focus on the acquisition of new generating capacity, transmission and energy efficiency programs to reduce electricity demand. Regulated utilities, like Xcel Energy, also have to submit Clean Energy Plans that include a just transition plan.
鈥淲e are not required to submit a Clean Energy Plan as part of our ERP, and therefore requirements regarding community assistance plans 鈥� do not apply to Tri-State,鈥� Lee Boughey, Tri-State spokesman, said in a statement.
Moffat County in its own PUC filing pushed back on the association鈥檚 position. 鈥淚f this ERP proceeding is not the appropriate forum 鈥�,鈥� Moffat County Commissioner Melody Villard said, 鈥淚 am not sure where else the Coal Transition Communities advocate for these commitments.鈥�
鈥淲hen plants and mines are shuttered abruptly, the economic disruptions are very severe,鈥� Villard said. 鈥淐ore funding to schools, and emergency services, health and social services are gutted.鈥�
The local school district and the fire district depend on tax revenues from the power plant for 50% of their funds.
Villard said the county is seeking 鈥渇irm, legally enforceable workforce transition plans and community assistance plans,鈥� including $110 million in tax and early closure payments.
County also wants Yampa River rights
The county also has for cooling water because the Lower Yampa River has been designated as 鈥渙ver-appropriated,鈥� blocking the drilling of any new water wells and limiting growth.
The 1,285-megawatt Craig Station began operations in 1979, with three other utilities Xcel Energy, PacifiCorp and the Salt River Project each having a share in units 1 and 2. Tri-State, the plant鈥檚 operator, owns unit 3.
Two mines 鈥� the Trapper Mine and the Tri-State-owned Colowyo Mine 鈥� provide coal to the power plant.
In 2023, the Craig Station paid a little more than $9.2 million in taxes. Tri-State paid $6.4 million, Xcel Energy鈥檚 subsidiary Public Service of Colorado, or PSCo, paid $1.4 million, PacifiCorp $908,000 and Salt River $528,000.
For the ranching and farming county on the Wyoming border, the power plant and mines created the area鈥檚 biggest economic footprint contributing $321 million to the regional gross domestic product, according to a Colorado Mesa University study.
Nevertheless, Colorado has committed to closing its coal-fired plants as part of its greenhouse gas reduction goal to cut emission from 2005 levels 50% by 2030 and 65% by 2035.
Faced with plans to close all coal-fired power plants by 2030, created the OJT to help coal communities navigate the loss of mines and power plants. It appropriate $30 million to the effort.
The funding is divided between community grants and aid to workers. Moffat County is slated to get at least $5 million of the community grant money and $4.6 million going to workers and families in the county.
鈥淲e trust the state of Colorado will endeavor to provide sufficient direct financial support to the Craig community via Office of Just Transition grant funding,鈥� Tri-State鈥檚 Boughey said.
Efforts have also focused on Morgan County, where Xcel Energy is converting a coal-fired plant, Hayden and Routt County where Xcel Energy is closing a coal-fired plant, and Pueblo where Xcel Energy is shutting the largest coal-fired plant in the state, the Comanche Station.
None of those communities, however, face as sharp a decline as Moffat County and its county seat, Craig. While the projected job losses equal 8.75% of the workforce in Moffat County, they are only a fraction of a percent in Morgan and Pueblo counties.
Similarly, while the Craig Station alone makes up 34% of the county鈥檚 tax base, Comanche is 11.8% of Pueblo County鈥檚 property taxes. Hayden Station is 14.8% of Routt County鈥檚 property tax and Pawnee Generating Station makes up 22.8% of Morgan County鈥檚 property taxes.
The Trapper Mine and the Colowyo Mine, which is owned by Tri-State, will trim another 9% from the Moffat County tax rolls, the OJT said.
There is also a mine in Routt County, the Twentymile Mine, but the mine and the Hayden power plant together account for only 1.7% of the county鈥檚 employment.
鈥淲e want the commission to understand that if it does not tap into its broad authority to direct Tri-State to provide a community assistance plan and workforce transition plan, Moffat County and the city of Craig will be left behind other coal communities in the state,鈥� Villard said.
Tri-State, city and local officials and the OJT developed an 鈥渋nformational community assistance plan,鈥� or ICAP, laying out broad areas of activity including an association commitment to offset reductions in property taxes and employment.
鈥淭ri-State is reviewing the areas of assistance of greatest interest to the community identified in the ICAP to determine a financially feasible approach to community assistance, and then will make a recommendation for Tri-State Board approval by the first quarter of 2025,鈥� Boughey said.
But nothing in the assistance plan is enforceable, Buchanan said. 鈥淚CAP provided a framework but not the dollars, so we think the ERP is the appropriate place to discuss dollars,鈥� he said.
The just transition legislation also requires 鈥渞etail utilities鈥� to file just comprehensive transition plans. Xcel Energy is expected to file its plan with the PUC for Pueblo and Hayden this month.
The law, however, does not ask a nonprofit, like Tri-State to file a plan.
Xcel Energy has already committed to paying Pueblo County 10 years of property taxes after closure of Comanche 3 unit and six years of taxes to Routt County after closing Hayden. The Pueblo commitment tax commitment adds up to about $160 million.
The company has also committed to placing new facilities at the sites of the two closed power plants.
In a utility commission filing, Joseph Pereira, deputy director of the Colorado Office of Utility Consumer Advocate, said that since Tri-State is locking in the closure dates for its Craig units in the ERP it was the right place to deal with just transition.
鈥淚t is difficult to conceive the intent of the legislature was to ensure a community like Pueblo, served by PSCo, should be provided community assistance, but Craig is left to fend for itself,鈥� Pereira said.
David Krause is an editor for The Colorado Sun. His work frequently appears on-air at KUNC 91.5 FM and online at KUNC.org. Contact David at davidkrause@coloradosun.com.
