Sufficient financial compensation to cover lost tax revenue was on the minds of many of the individuals who submitted public comment to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission in-person hearing Thursday evening in Hayden.

Many members of the community and representatives from community agencies told the three-member commission that Xcel Energy should contribute $89 million across 10 years, a figure requested in April by the Routt County Commissioners and Hayden town leadership.

According to Public Utilities Commission (PUC) documents, the power company has proposed approximately $16.3 million in Just Transition compensation funds to account for lost tax revenue and to support economic development in Hayden and Routt County.

Several public speakers at the hearing said they were “insulted” by the Xcel offer, which is proposed to compensate the tax base and economic losses when Hayden Station closes.. That Xcel assistance offer compares to the larger, proposed compensation package for Pueblo to help with the closing of the Comanche Generating Station.

Jack Ihle, Xcel regional vice president for regulatory policy, testified at an October PUC hearing that the projected “community assistance payments without any offset for replacement generations or new infrastructure” for Hayden Station units 1 and 2 would total $16.3 million. The same document shows a proposed total payment for Comanche 3 in Pueblo at $162.4 million.

For comparison, the coal-fired Comanche plant in Pueblo, which is slated to close no later than Jan. 1, 2031, has about three times the generating capacity than the Hayden Station in a town of approximately 112,000 people. The current population in Hayden is estimated at 1,950.

At the Thursday hearing, several employees and leaders from the Hayden School District and West Routt Fire Protection District spoke about the significant financial impacts to the viability of nonprofit services due to percentages of their budgets represented by Hayden Station tax payments.

Ryan Wattles, Hayden’s school board president, and Eric Owen, superintendent of the Hayden School District, warned of “profound impacts” on the town’s schools with reductions in the significant property tax contributions currently from Hayden Station.

Wattles said the school district already is on a “very tight budget” noting that the school board approved a “deficit budget” this fiscal year in an attempt to keep staff salaries in line with inflation.

“This is not just an energy transition; for us it’s an economic cliff,” Wattles said. “The Hayden School District stands to lose approximately 36% of property tax base when the Hayden Station closes. That level of reduction will result in difficult decisions including staffing cuts, program elimination and deferred maintenance.”

Wattles said when Hayden voters passed a bond issue in 2017 to build the new preK-12 school complex, which now sits with $24 million of debt, the closure of the Hayden Station was then slated for 2036. The timeframe for closure of Hayden Station has been accelerated to 2028.

“A just transition must include 10 years of full property tax backfill at a minimum, which would align us with what other communities have received,” Wattles said. “We understand the urgency of moving toward renewable energy, but this transition must be just. Our district and our town are being left behind…As the state changes how it powers homes and businesses, we ask that it does not extinguish the future of the children in Hayden.”

Another repeated theme during the public comments included an emphasis on keeping energy generation in Hayden and Routt County.

“I would urge the PUC to support Xcel in changing over to other methods of power generation and keep our power generation in the valley within this community,” said West Routt Fire Chief Trevor Guire. “Let us produce the power and keep as much of that tax base as we can here…. I would encourage everyone here to support Xcel to keep the power generation in the valley.”

Some public commenters said wind and solar power would not be sufficient to replace Hayden Station generation and urged investigations into newer technologies.

Michelle Stewart, the executive director of the Yampa Valley Sustainability Council, asked the PUC to encourage Xcel to investigate replacement power generation from deep geothermal resources.

Heat from deep underground temperatures would be a stable, reliable and renewable energy source for electricity production, Stewart said. She said the state’s “heat beneath our feet” advocacy campaign for geothermal “makes economic, geologic and energy sense for our region.”

“YVSC strongly requests that the commission avoid construction of a new gas plant at Hayden Station,” Stewart said, advocating for enhanced and advanced geothermal energy storage and generation. Geothermal investments would protect utility rate payers from stranded natural gas investment risks, Stewart said.

“Geothermal generation and storage can be deployed on a timeline that meets the urgency of the Hayden transition,” she added.

Audience members remained quiet and respectful during the public comments, as requested by PUC Chairman Eric Blank prior to opening the meeting.

The three-member Public Utilities Commission sitting at a table near the auditorium stage at the Hayden Center listened intently during the hearing. The state commission that regulates many utilities includes Blank, a lawyer and economist from Boulder; Megan Gilman, a small business owner in Edwards who has a degree in mechanical engineering; and Tom Plant, formerly an exploration geologist and state representative.

“In our role as commissioners at this stage of the process, we are here to listen and learn and to make sure your comments are accurately reflected in the record,” Blank said. “This case is ongoing, and we will not make any decisions until after the evidentiary hearing in June.”

Each commissioner thanked the audience multiple times for their participation. Chairman Blank, during a meeting break, said he appreciated the “strong turnout” and comments that he found “thoughtful, meaningful and helpful.”

At the opening of the meeting, PUC Communications Director Megan Castle outlined some points in the complicated commission proceeding process to roughly 75 individuals in the audience. In addition to general public comments, 24 groups have filed to be “interveners,” or parties affected by the PUC proceedings that want a seat at the table in the discussions, Castle explained. The municipalities of Hayden and Craig and Routt and Moffat counties are the four local parties that have filed as interveners.

Officials from Moffat County, including County Commissioner Melody Villard and Natural Resources Director Jeff Comstock, asked the PUC to include Craig and Moffat County in the deliberations with the Xcel Energy Just Transition proceedings and asked for $28.8 million in compensation toward a Moffat community assistance fund.

Villard said some 38 Hayden Station employees live in Moffat County. Those employees, who represent roughly 60% of the station’s workforce, make an average annual salary of about $118,000.

Villard said Xcel has a 10% ownership in units 1 and 2 at Craig Station, accounting for 15% of the station’s property taxes paid to the county, or approximately $1.4 million per year. Moffat County’s request includes approximately $14 million in property tax compensation plus $14 million in direct labor income effects for the early closure of the plant.

Moffat officials also advocated that some Xcel future clean energy projects be built within county limits and asked that a Moffat representative be added to a proposed Xcel carbon-free future initiative advisory board.

The Public Utilities Commission added an additional virtual meeting for public comment set for 5-7 p.m. on June 5. Participants must register in advance with information on the Zoom meeting available at PUC.Colorado.gov/puccalendar.

Hundreds of pages of public and intervener comments regarding Xcel’s Just Transition plan are available to view on the website PUC.colorado.gov under the category E-Filings and then searching the proceeding number 24A-0442E. The plan filed in October represents the company’s next Electric Resource Plan to address the acquisition of new utility resources to meet future electricity needs on its system. The plan’s primary objectives include fulfilling resource adequacy, providing reliable service, continuing progress on emissions reductions and delivering a Just Transition in communities where generation assets are retiring.

The PUC is expected to reach a final decision on the Xcel Energy Just Transition plan in August.