A landmark settlement has been reached on Tri-State Generation’s 2020 Electric Resource Plan and part of that settlement will include a process to assist Craig and Moffat County in the transition from coal. According to the Tri-State press release, Tri-State has agreed to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions related to its wholesale electricity sales in Colorado to 26% in 2025, 36% in 2026, 46% in 2027, and 80% in 2030. Part of the settlement agreement includes a third-party facilitated stakeholder engagement process that will take place this year to explore community assistance opportunities for the City of Craig and Moffat County as the region prepares for the retirement of Craig Station by 2030. “Parties have agreed through this settlement to an extensive set of modeling assumptions and inputs for Phase II of the Electric Resource Plan, such as the update of certain technical assumptions related to the social cost of carbon and methane, updates to reflect new Tri-State member partial requirements contracts, and other information. The additional modeling will include continued analysis of the retirement date for Craig Station Unit 3, which previous modeling validated would retire by 2030, to ensure reliable power to Tri-State’s utility members.” The settlement is expected to be reviewed and given final approval during the first quarter of 2022.
