In 2021, Gov. Jared Polis released a long-range plan to make Colorado more environmentally friendly by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Titled the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Roadmap, the plan called for the state’s electric utilities — which generated the majority of fossil-based emissions in Colorado — to reduce greenhouse gas pollution at least 80% by 2030.

“Colorado’s plan is ambitious but achievable,” Polis said at the time.

Last week, citing “enormous progress” in emissions reduction over the past three years, the governor released an updated plan that, among other things, calls for 100% clean electricity generation by 2040.

Colorado Springs Utilities CEO Travas Deal said on Tuesday that Polis’ new plan, Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap 2.0, may be asking for too much, too soon.

“The (initial) plan — we knew it was going to be aggressive, we knew it was going to be costly, but we complied, and we’re well on our way to an 80% reduction by 2030,” Deal said.

“We anticipated being able to execute this plan, and then have conversations about what the next step would look like. (The new road map) came too quick for us. We would have wanted a little more time.”

The 2021 plan was a major factor in CSU’s closing of the Martin Drake Power Plant in 2022 and the planned closing of the Ray Nixon Power Plant by 2030, Deal said. The utilities company has also taken other steps to reduce its dependency on coal.

“We thought 80% was a good start toward being a cleaner utility and a cleaner state,” Deal said. “This next level, though … we don’t have the technology for that yet, and the financial impacts are going to be extreme.”

In order to be in compliance with the governor’s new road map, CSU would have to upgrade its infrastructure to generate most of its electricity with renewable power sources, such as solar and wind. These upgrades, with currently available technology, would be extremely expensive, Deal said.

“The current plan, to meet the 80%, is gonna be well over $1 billion,” he said. “Now, these are very rough numbers … to get us to 97% (carbon reduction) is another $244 million. It’s that last little bit — from 97% to zero carbon — takes us from $244 million to about $1.4 billion.”

CSU is in the process of determining what how these cost increases will effect the average customer’s monthly utility bill, Deal said.

“Over the next couple of months, we’re going to be working with the state and actually showing them the true cost to our citizens and rate payers,” he said. “We anticipate extreme rate pressure.”

Heavy reliance on renewable energy brings its own set of problems, according to Deal.

“Renewables are a great asset to have, when they’re available,” he said. “But there are times, living in Colorado, when renewables are not going to be available. We have five military installations in our community that we support, and we want to make sure that we have not only low-cost power, but reliable power.“

Colorado Energy Office spokesman Ari Rosenblum countered that a shift to renewable energy will be cheaper in the long run.

“The reality is that renewable energy saves Coloradans money and protects the future of our state, which is why Governor Polis and his administration have made Colorado a national model for clean energy work,” Rosenblum said in a statement.

“The Department of Defense agrees and believes that clean energy is an affordable and important contributor to national security through diversity of supply and reduced exposure to global fossil fuel prices and volatile markets.”

Rosenblum added that, according to a recent study, Colorado has some of the lowest utility costs in the U.S. 

Deal said he hopes to open a dialogue with the governor’s office to discuss an energy solution that continues to move Colorado toward zero carbon emissions without causing utility rates to skyrocket.

“We’re going to continue to work with Governor Polis and his administration as well as our legislating bodies with the state to try to make sure that we have a good plan (moving) forward and maybe see if we can get at the table and have some conversations around a fair, applicable way to transition. But right now, we’re not seeing that.”