MorganEnergy

Discussing Energy Economics on the Internet

Xcel Goes Green

Posted in Colorado,Renewables by Cheryl Morgan on the August 22nd, 2008

The greening of the USA’s generation industry took another significant step forward this week when the Colorado Public Utilities Commission approved a plan by Xcel Energy to replace 229MW of coal-fired generation with a 200MW solar plant. As reported by Rocky Mountain News, Xcel had originally planned to replace the aging coal plants (Arapahoe in Denver and Cameo in Gran Junction) with a 480MW gas plant. However, in the face of local opposition, and the need to meet Governor Bill Ritter’s plan for a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020, the utility will now use renewable generation instead.
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