Tri-State Generation and Transmission will close its entire Colorado- and New Mexico-based coal-fired generation fleet decades earlier than the assets’ potential end-of-life, as well as retire a coal mine in Colorado, as the cooperative transitions toward a greater proportion of renewables in its energy mix. Executives with the non-profit cooperative said during a January 9 media call that the 247-MW Escalante coal plant in Prewitt, New Mexico, now will close by the end of 2020, over two decades earlier than the plant’s planned end-of-life in 2045. Tri-State, which owns 100% of Escalante, will take a one-time impairment loss of $282 million, which will be recovered via rates through the end of 2045, according to a document the cooperative filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. An extra $26 million will be spent on decommissioning and other […]