Colorado to shut coal plants on climate concern
In a sign that climate change concern may move serious policy in the US, a utility plans to shut two small coal plants and replace them with cleaner natural gas electricity generation. The plan by Xcel Energy was approved by the Colorado utilities commission this week, and be completed by 2012. Xcel filed its plan last year in response to state policy to reduce emissions 20% by 2020. The plants capacity is 229 MW and they plan to replace the electricity with a mix of renewables and natural gas. This development shows that state policy (not just federal policy) can be effective in the effort to stop global warming. Kudos to the policymakers and the public of Colorado. Hopefully this is the beginning of a wave of change that lowers the carbon intensity of our energy nationwide.
In other news, natural gas inventories gained an above average 88 billion cubic feet to finally rest above the 5-year average level (though it is still 9% below last year). Supplies look ample for the winter unless a hurricane disrupts the system. This summer had a strong buildup that recovered supplies from below average levels in the Spring. Here’s hoping this makes cleaner natural gas chosen over coal without CCS to generate a larger share of US electricity.