ERIC BLANK, chair of the Public Utilities Commission, and the commissioners on Dec. 3 voted to grant a joint petition that delays the planned retirement of the Pueblo Unit 2 coal-fired power plant from Dec. 31, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026, while placing new reporting and operational safeguards on the utility.

The joint petition — filed by Public Service Company of Colorado, commission trial staff, the Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate and the Colorado Energy Office — asked the commission to modify the retirement date to allow time to address capacity shortfalls caused by a prolonged, unplanned outage at Comanche Unit 3. "The joint petition seeks permission to modify the planned retirement date of the Pueblo Unit 2 coal fired facility from 12/31/2025 to 12/31/2026," Michael Eaton of the commission advisory team said during the presentation.

Why it matters: intervenors and dozens of public commenters disagreed about whether the outage at Unit 3 is the sole justification for keeping Unit 2 online. Environmental groups and some municipalities urged the commission to deny the extension or to attach strict limits and reporting requirements, citing public-health and climate concerns and the potential for ratepayer exposure to large repair costs. Local economic groups and Pueblo-area intervenors argued the extension is needed to ensure reliable electricity for major employers and family-supporting jobs.

What the commission ordered: advisors recommended and the commission agreed to a conditional, two-step review. Public Service must file a detailed report by March 1, 2026, updating Unit 3 repair status, forecasted repair costs, near-term resource options and effects on load forecasts. A second filing — an application addressing intermediate and longer-term resource acquisitions and contracts — is due by June 1, 2026, though the commission said it will accept earlier filings.

The commission also required enhanced, ongoing reporting: monthly disclosure of projected capital expenditures for Unit 3 before those expenditures are obligated; clearer large-load queue reporting consistent with the commission's Joint Transmission Study (JTS) definitions; and assessment of whether continued operation of Unit 2 would impair operation of planned renewable projects (for example, the Arroyo 2 335 MW solar project).

Operational limit and vote split: the panel adopted an operational constraint from an alternate plan that would cap combined generation from Units 2 and 3 at roughly 3,900,000 MWh in 2026. The record reflected disagreement over the likely cost and system impacts of imposing a binding constraint; the transcript records the operational limitation was adopted on a 2–1 vote with one commissioner urging caution about moving away from economic dispatch without clearer cost estimates.

Cost and prudence: the commission repeatedly stressed there is "no presumption of prudence" for repair costs or replacement-power costs tied to Unit 3's outage. Several intervenors asked the commission to declare that any costs tied to the outage would not be recoverable from ratepayers; the commission declined to make such a disallowance in this proceeding, saying it lacked sufficient record evidence and that prudence determinations belong to later, rate-related dockets.

Next steps: Public Service must file the March 1 report and the June application timeline required by the two-step process. Commissioners said the early reporting could trigger an earlier review if capital-expenditure reporting raises concerns. The commission also authorized permissive intervenor motions that had been filed and will memorialize the decisions in an ABC (administrative) order to be drafted by staff.

Quotes from the meeting: Michael Eaton, advisory team: "Doing so is consistent with the arguments from the Pueblo intervenors and certain public commenters emphasizing the importance of reliable electricity." Commissioner Gilman: "The reporting is essential from a transparency purposes and for the parties to have that information and see it as it's transpiring." Commissioner Plante: "How much do you spend to generate 4 and a half years of production?" (questioning the prudence and cost recovery implications.)

What the decision does not do: the commission did not authorize immediate cost recovery from ratepayers for Unit 3 repair or Unit 2 operation in this docket; it also did not rule out future hearings, discovery or prudence reviews in subsequent proceedings.

Supporting segments in the record: the joint petition and advisory recommendation were introduced at SEG 379–SEG 386 and the recommendation to grant the variances and adopt the two-step process appears through SEG 712–SEG 716 and SEG 851–SEG 856; the operational limitation discussion and the 2–1 adoption is summarized near SEG 1346–SEG 1454. The meeting adjourned at SEG 1540.

For follow-up: the commission set reporting dates (March 1, 2026, and June 1, 2026) and directed staff to draft an ABC order that incorporates the reporting and procedural clarifications approved on Dec. 3.