Published: September 7, 2016 |

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Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association will close a coal-fired generation station and one coal mine as it moves to comply with plans to reduce regional haze, the co-op said.

The 100-megawatt Nucla Station is to close by the end of 2022 and the New Horizon Mine, which serves the station, is to close.

Also to close is Craig Station Unit One in Moffat County, by the end of 2025. Craig Station Unit Two and Unit Three will continue to operate, it will help to mitigate the effects of on employees with the retirement of Unit One, officials said.

More than 300 jobs stand to be affected by the closures.

Tri-State officials said they would work with local and state officials to help employees who lose their jobs as a result of the closures.

Tri-State announced the closures as part of an agreement with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, WildEarth Guardians and the National Parks Conservation Association.

The utility cited the “significant costs to install additional emissions controls” at both locations under the “increasingly stringent regional haze rule, the state and federal regulatory environment for coal-based generation and current and forecasted market conditions.”

It’s too soon to say how the employees at either station will be affected, Tri-State said.

Nucla Station employs 55, and 28 people work at the New Horizon Mine.

There are 283 employees at Craig Station.

“We will have a transition team to assess impacts and employee and community needs.” Tri-State spokesman Lee Boughey said.

Source: (September 1, 2016) The Daily Sentinel

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