Colorado governor signs coal-cutback bill
Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter — joined by executives from the state’s oil and gas industry as well as environmentalists — on Monday signed the “Clean Air Clean Jobs Act,” a bill requiring Xcel Energy Inc. to reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants.
“This bill is a capstone to a bold economic, environmental and energy agenda that we’ve been pursing for three years,” Ritter said.
The bill — HB 1365 — requires Xcel to cut nitrous oxide emissions by up to 80 percent from several Front Range coal plants by the end of 2017. Xcel must submit a plan to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission by Aug. 15 detailing how it will cut emissions from coal plants that generate about 900 megawatts of electricity.
Xcel’s options include shutting down the coal-fired power plants, retrofitting them with equipment that will capture more emissions, or switching them to run on natural gas.
Read the full story in the Denver Business Journal.
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