Coal versus natural gas--New law hurts Colorado coal

摘要

Colorado's legislature, in April, passed H.B. 1365, a bill that required the state's largest utility, Xcel Energy, to file a plan with the state's Public Utilities Commission (PUC) outlining how it will reduce air pollution emissions from its electric generating plants. The measure, dubbed the Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act, was signed into law by Gov. Bill Ritter. It provided Xcel Energy with incentives to replace 900 MW of electricity from its coal plants with natural gas by 2017. At the time the measure was proposed, Xcel Energy voiced its opposition, saying the costs would be too great. However, once it became evident that the measure had a significant amount of support from state lawmakers, the utility changed its position to one of support.