May 2026
Update on Ray D. Nixon Closure
From the L.A.C.E. Newsletter
Due to your commitment and campaigning, SB26-022 will not be moving forward and is postponed indefinitely. In its place, a new bill, SB26-182 (Updated Clean Energy Plan Municipally Owned Utility) was introduced last week and created through conversations with Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU), lawmakers at the State Capitol, the Governor's office, the Sierra Club, and other environmental groups.
The Sierra Club maintains our position that the Ray D. Nixon coal plant needs to be closed as soon as possible. As we know, Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) did not do the planning needed to retire the Nixon coal plant by December 31, 2029. Their Clean Energy Plan also did not specify how they intended to replace Nixon, instead saying that the replacement resources were “TBD."
Through negotiation and advocacy, we at the Sierra Club, alongside other environmental partners, were able to push CSU to moderate their original proposal (SB26-022) that would have extended the retirement deadline through 2040. We negotiated them down to a December 31, 2032 retirement date for Nixon and a requirement for CSU to submit an updated clean energy plan detailing how they will bring coal offline. Additionally, CSU has committed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions beyond 2032, setting a goal of a 95% reduction in GHG emissions by 2040. These are greater emission reduction goals than any other utility in the state.
We acknowledge that it is never ideal to prolong the lifeline of a coal plant, but the advantages of this compromise are a much better outcome when compared to CSU's first bill. While we are not actively supporting this new bill, we are also not opposing it. We are grateful to the advocates, legislators, and community members who got us to this point.
Today, we continue to fight an uphill battle. CSU now has to own that it failed its customers on the coal transition. This utility put its energy into trying to extend coal and explore impossibly expensive nuclear energy when it could have simply just resourced more renewables. We will continue to hold CSU accountable and push lawmakers and the Public Utilities Commission to do so as well.
Thank you for your continued support. If you have any questions, please reach out to us directly.
Clean Energy Updates
In the continuing saga of Colorado Springs Utilities vs. rooftop solar, CSU presented the results of its Solar Focus Groups discussions at their April 20th CSU Board Working Committee meeting. Only a small number of participants took part: 12 solar customers and 8 non-solar customers. The non-solar participants expressed a willingness to accept a small increase in their rates to support rooftop solar, but not a larger increase. Despite this muted reaction, CSU is still planning to propose a rate structure that would zero out the claimed subsidy which rooftop solar providers receive. A power point of the presentation to the Working Committee is available online. The current timeline is for rate information to be presented at the May Working Committee meeting, a draft rate proposal to be presented at the June Working Committee and Utilities Board meetings, and for a rate filing to be considered at City Council in July.
A recording of the Working Committee discussing of the solar rate case is available at starting at 28:00 minutes. The comments reflect CSU and the Board's hostility toward rooftop solar. See also comments by David Leinweber regarding rooftop solar, that rooftop solar owners think they are helping Colorado Springs; "The fact is they are not,” at 2:47:30.
In regards to nuclear power, starting as early as next month, Colorado Springs Utilities will begin work on a year-long feasibility study to determine whether advanced nuclear reactors could be effectively integrated into the local power supply.
A bipartisan bill to facilitate new nuclear energy development in Colorado narrowly won approval from a House committee Thursday. House Bill 26-1337, advanced by the House Energy and Environment Committee on a 7-6 vote, would direct the Colorado Energy Office to help streamline development of nuclear energy projects, in coordination with private electric utilities with more than half a million customers — criteria that would apply only to Xcel Energy, which supports the bill.
A proposed 50-55 megawatt Data Center is being proposed for the Colorado Springs area and it would roughly use one fifth of Nixon's capacity. Sierra Club is concerned what effect this would have on Colorado's clean energy goals. We are working with a local group, Stop Project Taurus Data Center- Garden of the Gods to fight against this proposal. There is a meeting with the developer on May 14th from 5:30-7:30 at the Marriott Hotel, 5580 Tech Center Drive, Colorado Springs. Join us to ask questions and have our voices heard! See the group's Facebook page for more info.
May News
Conservation Report
By Jim Lockhart
For updates on the group’s campaigns and issues, please click here.
Grey Wolf Reintroduction
From Colorado Parks and Wildlife Newsletter
Over the first two years of wolf restoration Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) has been working closely with producers and partnering organizations like the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) to expand its wolf-livestock conflict minimization program. Through this process CPW has expanded its stockpile of conflict minimization tools (such as fladry, various scare devices, and remote game cameras) as well as its staff dedicated to this effort. This includes 10 Wildlife Damage Specialists, expansion of the Colorado Range Rider program (in partnership with CDA), and the hiring of a Wolf Damage and Conflict Minimization Manager.
Read the full article from CPW here.
Events
On May 2nd, the Pikes Peak Group participated in a successful cleanup event with the Roswell neighbors. Roughly 20 volunteers came and cleaned up a significant amount of trash in the urban trail area.
This summer, The Pikes Peak group will be participating in two community cleanups to pick up trash in the Colorado Springs area. One with be in the Roswell Reach neighborhood mid-summer. The other will be at the El Pomar area in coordination with Richard's Rubbish Roundup.
Please keep an eye out for an invite to these events.
Stay Informed!
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Connect with like-minded folks by attending one of the Pikes Peak Group's events on our MeetUp Page.