If coal is the abundant, cheap energy source that the president keeps telling us it is, then it stands to reason that ordering coal-fired generating stations to remain open would mean lower electricity rates.<\/p>\n
It would also mean more pollution, but we couldn\u2019t blame Americans if they welcomed cheaper utility bills amid an ongoing affordability crisis.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s not the tradeoff that the Trump administration is forcing onto consumers \u2013 at least not those served by the rural electric co-ops that make up the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association.<\/p>\n
An executive order preventing the retirement of a coal-fired power plant in Craig is for the benefit of the coal industry at the expense of everyday ratepayers who get nothing out of the deal except higher bills and more carbon pollution.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s happening under the questionable proposition that the nation is in the midst of an energy emergency. If there is an emergency, this isn\u2019t the way out \u2013 as the owners and operators of the Craig Unit 1 coal-fired plant made abundantly clear in a petition to the U.S. Department of Energy on Jan. 29.<\/p>\n
They joined the Colorado attorney general and a coalition of environmental groups opposing an order to keep the Craig plant open beyond its planned 2025 retirement date.<\/p>\n
It would be one thing for the government to provide money to reboot the plant. But that\u2019s not the case. The owners note they let important maintenance lapse knowing the plant was to be shuttered at the end of the year. Fixing those issues will be even more costly and the expense falls on the shoulders of rural electric co-op members who pay the bills through electric rates.<\/p>\n
As part of Colorado\u2019s transition to renewable energy, the Craig plant\u2019s owners planned for the retirement of the facility for more than a decade and \u201cproactively\u201d replaced the electrical generation capacity from new sources, including the 145MW Axial Basin solar farm in Moffat County.<\/p>\n