HomeMy WebLinkAboutResponse To Constituent Letter - Mail Packet - 3/26/2024 - Letter From Mayor Jeni Arndt To Energy Board Re: Platte River Power Authority’S Plan For A Natural Gas Turbine
Mayor
City Hall
300 LaPorte Ave.
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.416.2154
970.224.6107 - fax
fcgov.com
March 21, 2024
Energy Board
c/o Christie Fredrickson, Staff Liaison
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
Dear Chair Tenbrink and Board Members:
On behalf of City Council, thank you for providing us with the memorandum dated March 6,
2024 regarding Platte River Power Authority’s plan for a natural gas turbine. We understand the
Board’s concerns and appreciate you asking additional questions for consideration. There are
definitely a number factors to consider.
Thank you for the expertise and perspectives that you bring to the Board and share with City
Council.
Best Regards,
Jeni Arndt
Mayor
/sek
cc: City Council Members
Kelly DiMartino, City Manager
Utilities – Energy Board
700 Wood St.
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.221.6702
970.416.2208 - fax
fcgov.com
M E M O R A N D U M
DATE: March 6, 2024
TO: Mayor Arndt and City Councilmembers
FROM: Stephen Tenbrink, Energy Board Chairperson
RE: Platte River Power Authority’s Plan for a Natural Gas Turbine
Members of the Energy Board have been following Platte River’s plans to replace the electrical power
generated by the Rawhide Coal Fired Generating Plant located north of Fort Collins that generates
electrical power. We understand that the City’s two representatives on the Platte River Board have
supported a proposal to permit the construction of a new natural gas plant. Board members are
concerned that moving forward with these plans are counterproductive to our climate sustainabilit y goals
put forward in the Our Climate Future document that City Council approved last year.
We have several issues with Platte River’s plans and would like to make sure all possible approaches are
considered before moving forward with a fossil fuel burning plant that will cost $240 million and saddle the
four owner communities with substantial debt.
We are also concerned that Platte River’s promise to convert this new plant to hydrogen fuel in the future
is based on a very optimistic availability of hydrogen fuel and the future retrofit of generator turbine. If this
optimism doesn't pan out, we will be burning more natural gas instead and generating more CO2 into the
atmosphere.
There is also concern that Platte River has not used an Open Request for Proposal to get a wider input
for other approaches to solving the ‘dark calm’ issue that arises when renewable sources are not able to
produce power. We certainly appreciate the need for “insurance” that power will be available during dark
calm incidents and that we must meet capacity requirements as members of the regional power market.
Would a more sustainable approach work for these scenarios than burning more fossil fuel and sending
tons of carbon into the atmosphere? What other approaches have been considered? Could the ancillary
services, to be provided by the newly proposed gas plant, be better served by using other non-fossil fuel
technologies?
Finally, given the fact that Platte River is joining a regional transmission market, we raise a concern that
being a member of this power market may require this new natural gas plant to generate power for
demands outside our area leaving us with the carbon emissions while the power goes elsewhere.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Energy Board,
__________________________
Stephen Tenbrink, Chairperson
Energy Board
cc: Thomas Loran, Energy Board Vice Chairperson
Phillip Amaya, Director of Operations & Technology
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