Routt County’s future is at a crossroads as the community grapples with the 2028 closure of Hayden Station, a coal-fired power plant that has long been an economic cornerstone for the region.
At Monday’s work session, Routt County commissioners laid out the stakes and their strategy for negotiating with Xcel Energy, the plant’s owner, and the Colorado Public Utilities Commission over how the transition away from coal should be managed, funded and shaped.
Commissioners Sonja Macys, Angelica Salinas and Tim Redmond met with local media at the work session to explain the county’s April 18 “answer testimony” — a comprehensive response to Xcel’s “Just Transition” solicitation.
“This is filed as what we call answer testimony, meaning that somebody is interviewed, and there are questions asked, and the responses that are given are intended to frame how we approach Xcel with our perspective on the solicitation itself,” said Macys. “In this case, we nominated Commissioner Redmond to be our representative on this.”
Macys added that the county has been partnering with the town of Hayden, which submitted its own testimony.
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