We will be presenting our case for denial of PRPA’s 1041 application to the Larimer County Planning Commission on Wednesday, February 12, 2025.  Environmental attorney, Mike Foote, will be representing us in this endeavor.  We need to have a large turnout of concerned people at this meeting to show that there is support for clean energy and not more fossil fuels.  Please plan to attend this meeting.  You can make a public comment (talking points below) or simply attend and wear green to show your support.  

What:  Planning Commission Hearing for 24-ZONE3715 Platte River Power Authority 1041 Permit Application

When:  Wednesday, February 12, 2025 at 6:00 pm

Where:  200 West Oak Street, Fort Collins, CO 

You can sign up in person at the meeting or online here. If you have materials you wish to share with Planning Commission members, e-mail then to this address: planningcirt@co.larimer.co.us.

If you can’t attend, you can submit a written comment here:

https://publicinput.com/b50777#tab-59818

After reviewing the application and comments, the Planning Commission will make a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners, who will make a decision.  The County Commissioners will meet to consider the application on March 10, 2025, so save the date!

Talking Points

The County Commissioners, via the 1041 process, can permit or deny construction of the proposed gas turbines.  We are asking the planning commission to recommend denial of the permit.

In 2018, the Platte River Power Authority Board of Directors unanimously passed the Resource Diversification Policy, “setting the standard as a clean energy leader” by calling for the pursuit of a 100% non-carbon energy mix by 2030. 

PRPA may be a leader at making promises, but they are a laggard at keeping their promises.  PRPA is last in the state for adoption of renewable energy.   Building new gas would push PRPA even further away from a 100% non-carbon energy mix.   This puts the owner cities and Colorado State University back 20 years in our clean energy goals. 

The portion of Larimer County along the front range is in the EPA severe non-attainment zone for ozone pollution, and the American Lung Association rates our air quality with a grade of F.  Building new methane gas burning infrastructure will add to poor air quality by emitting CO2, NOX and VOCs .

The Effective Load Carrying Capacity (ELCCs) that the PRPA placed on its renewable resources (wind, solar, and storage) in their recent IRP were lower than those used by the Southwest Power Pool Regional Transmission Organization (SPP RTO), which is the “balancing authority” (BA) that the PRPA plans to join in 2026.  

During a presentation made to the PRPA board on October 31st of 2024, PRPA changed their own ELCCs to be similar to those used by the SPP.  When the new values are used, the planning reserve margin is 39.8% in 2030 WITHOUT building a new gas-fired power plant. That is twice the planning reserve margin that PRPA says it needs! 

The new gas turbines are NOT needed because PRPA already has 388 MW of gas CTs, which are more than enough “insurance” until more renewables and storage can be built.

PRPA plans to increase wholesale rates to the owner cities by 6.3% each year.  Some of that increase is to pay for the proposed new gas plant, which is unnecessary.  The rate increase will create a hardship for rate payers, at the same time that PRPA will be imposing increased health and safety impacts caused by more fossil fuel.

The PRPA plan is based on questionable assumptions and needs to be reviewed by experts in renewable energy who can advise whether more gas generation is needed, and  recommend alternatives.

Climate related extreme weather around the world is escalating.  These events will only increase, as will the losses and cascading impacts these disasters cause.  Eliminating greenhouse gas emissions needs to be the primary consideration in planning.