DOE orders Craig coal unit available to grid through Dec. 25
The order allows the Southwest Power Pool to dispatch the unit when needed during an emergency, but does not require it to generate power continuously.
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The U.S. Department of Energy ordered Craig Unit 1 to remain available to the grid through Dec. 25. It is the fourth successive order for the northwestern Colorado coal unit since December 2025, the latest order says.
Effective Sept. 27, the order directs Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, the plant’s co-owners and the Southwest Power Pool to ensure the unit is available. The grid operator may dispatch it only when needed to address the stated emergency and minimize costs to ratepayers. The order allows time for an orderly ramp-down after Dec. 25 and does not set out an automatic extension.
At a Nov. 4 Colorado Public Utilities Commission meeting, public commenter Frank Kasky urged commissioners to review the owners’ costs and possible effects on customers, in his public comment.
At an Aug. 5 discussion of a Public Service Company of Colorado rate-case settlement, commissioners described possible ways some costs could reach the utility’s customers: fuel costs through its Electric Cost Adjustment and incremental non-fuel costs through a Plant Closing Cost Adjustment during an authorized extension. They said those mechanisms would not establish that costs were prudent or guarantee recovery, and noted the company had not identified its incremental costs, as commissioners discussed the settlement. The discussion did not provide a Craig-specific estimate of customer costs.