WIND FOR COAL IN COLORADO

Amid coal fight, power company seals wind deal

Dennis Webb, June 11, 2015 The Daily Sentinel

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, a Colorado generation and transmission cooperative that supplies 44 electric cooperatives and public power districts in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico and Wyoming, contracted for the 76 MW output of Iberdrola Renewables’ Twin Buttes II Wind Project. The wind will provide backup if the utility cannot get the Colowyo mine’s half of its Craig coal facility’s supply. A federal judge ruled in May the Colorado Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement’s 2007 approval for the mine’s expansion was flawed. Mining will be shut down within 60 days if Tri-State’s appeal fails and errors are not corrected. Tri-State’s delivered electricity in 2014 was 24% renewables-sourced. Baseload coal provides 59% of the utility’s mix while 2% of its electricity comes from natural gas and the balance is merchant-supplied. The Twin Buttes wind project is expected to annually provide $270,000 in local tax benefits and $250,000 in landowner lease payments. click here for more

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