The Colorado Public Utilities Commission — responding to an aggrieved critique by Pueblo County and the specter of Trump administration intervention — agreed to review some of the elements in the plan to soften the impacts of the closure of the coal-fired Comanche power plant.
But even as the utilities commission moved to address the fiery missive, which included the county seeking an order from President Donald Trump to keep the plant running, the Pueblo County Commission argued about whether the filing had been properly vetted.
“The language that was submitted was not presented to this board,” Commissioner Miles Lucero, a Democrat, said at the commission’s Thursday meeting. “To me this is a massive procedural error.”
“Pueblo is not getting its fair shake in what the PUC has deliberated on,” Lucero said, but said he was “disappointed to see that frustration in a filing.”
Xcel Energy’s Comanche power plant is the county’s largest single taxpayer. As part of the state’s plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions Unit 1 closed in 2022. Unit 2 is set to close this year and Unit 3 is scheduled to go idle no later than 2031, along with all other coal-burning power plants in the state
Under a 2019 state law, communities losing coal mines and coal-fired power plants are to be assured a “just transition,” such as offering tax relief, job training and economic development incentives.
The PUC approved a just transition plan, or JTS, for four counties — Moffat, Routt, Morgan and Pueblo — at the end of August, leaving Pueblo officials unhappy.
“The PUC has given us the shaft,” Republican Commissioner Paula McPheeters said. “It is not ‘a just’ transition, it is just nothing.”
In its filing Pueblo County argued that the PUC never really considered a community proposal for a small modular nuclear reactor or gas plant to replace the coal-fired plant and had not provided adequate incentives for new projects to locate in Pueblo.
The appeal to the Trump administration is to keep Comanche open until replacement generation is constructed in Pueblo.
“The request to keep Comanche open indefinitely and saying we are in the process of doing that is not accurate,” Lucero said. “We haven’t had those conversations.”
McPheeters said that she has already contacted congressional representatives about pursuing a request to the White House.
Colorado is forcing Pueblo’s coal-fired Comanche Power Plant to close, costing Pueblo hundreds of good-paying jobs, hundreds of millions in lost economic activity, and nearly a billion dollars in property tax revenue. At this week’s House Natural Resources hearing, I raised… pic.twitter.com/ENrhtP1ycZ
— Rep. Jeff Hurd (@RepJeffHurd) September 4, 2025Republican Rep. Jeff Hurd, whose 3rd Congressional District includes Pueblo County, said on the social media site X Thursday that “Colorado is forcing Pueblo’s coal-fired Comanche Power Plant to close, costing Pueblo hundreds of good-paying jobs.”
”I disagree with Commissioner Lucero in the sense that filing was exactly what I wanted it to say,” McPheeters said. “I was fully aware of what was going to be said.”
Under questioning by Lucero, McPheeters conceded that she had not read the text filed with the PUC.
The filing was written by Cynthia Mitchell, the Pueblo County attorney, and Frances Koncilja, who has served as a special counsel in the JTS proceedings and is a former PUC commissioner.
“I do not take action without the approval of all three commissioners, which occurs in executive session,” Koncilja said in a text message.
Regulators will take another look at study on small nuclear reactors
In response to the Pueblo filing, PUC Chairman Eric Blank Thursday said he was committed to reviewing the Pueblo community study on small modular nuclear reactors and agreed that “we should be driving new generation investment in communities like Pueblo.”
“Once the JTS decision comes out, I think it will be clearer how this commission is promoting that goal,” Blank said.
Blank said it would also take another look at his vote to reduce JTS credits for resources located in communities with retiring coal plants — one of the main issues raised by the county.
The vote to limit those credits was based on concerns about accountability and possible gaming. “Both of those concerns may be addressable,” Blank said.
Once the commission’s written order for the JTS is out, parties can request a “rehearing, reargument, reconsideration” of the decision, known as Triple R, where some of these issues can be addressed.
“I’d be happy to hear what different parties have to say on Triple R,” Commissioner Megan Gilman said.
The JTS plan preserves $162 million in community assistance for Pueblo and a $100 million fund for carbon-free future development, such as advanced nuclear and geothermal.
“I’m hopeful we can pull this back together, as I think the substantive gap between what the community said it wanted in its statement of position, and what we’ve already approved,” Blank said.
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