Xcel seeks permit renewal for Colorado coal plant

摘要

Xcel Energy is seeking to renew the permit for its four unit, 717MW coal-fired Cherokee generating station in Denver, Colo. But the Title V permit renewal process has sparked the ire of environmental groups, which are separately suing the Cherokee plant over what they said were 22,000 violations of the Clean Air Act for excessive particulate matter emissions over the last five years. The permit went before a public hearing Nov. 19, where environmental advocates, such as Wild Earth Guardians, were able to argue the plant should be replaced with a large renewables installation. Wild Earth Guardians had requested the hearing and distributed talking points to their members, asking attendees to say, “I urge the [state] to work with Xcel Energy to replace the Cherokee coal-fired power plant with clean energy. This year alone Xcel has received 15,000 megawatts of clean energy bids, which could more than offset the 717 megawatt Cherokee plant.”