Loveland council members on Tuesday questioned a recent decision by the Platte River Power Authority to close its Rawhide Unit 1 coal-fired power station by 2030 and clashed with Mayor Jacki Marsh over how the closure was announced.
Marsh is one of two Loveland representatives on the governing board of the power wholesaler, along with Loveland Water and Power Director Joe Bernosky.
On June 16, the authority announced that Rawhide Unit 1 would be closing 16 years before its planned retirement, setting a hard end date for PRPA’s reliance on coal.
While calls for the power station’s closure have grown since 2018 when the authority voted to eliminate non-carbon fuels from its power blend, last week’s announcement also came under pressure to describe how it will meet state goals and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% of 2005 levels over the next decade.
Bernosky emailed council members on the morning of June 16, prior to the authority issuing a public press release, to notify them that senior PRPA staff had made the call to close the station.
The decision was made without a vote of the board, though a PRPA document that Bernosky shared with the council indicated that the board supported the move.
PRPA spokesman Steve Roalstad said the closure of the station was also discussed during an earlier executive session of the board.
Loveland’s City Council did not discuss the closure during its June 16 meeting.
On Tuesday, Ward IV councilor Don Overcash said he only learned about the closure after the fact via newspaper coverage and felt the decision was made in haste without input being sought from city leaders.
“I am greatly troubled by the rapidity with which that decision has been made,” he said. “This is very similar to the way the state has been operating in rushing legislation through without due process and due discussion with all stakeholders.”
Councilors Steve Olson of Ward III and Dave Clark of Ward IV also said they were surprised to learn about the closure and questioned why Marsh had not informed them earlier.
“Why are we getting blindsided in the paper and from an early morning email instead of getting reports from our representative?,” Clark asked.
Overcash and Marsh traded barbs, with Marsh accusing Overcash of “ambushing” her with his presentation, which he was allowed to add to the agenda over her objections by an 8-1 vote, and Overcash continuing to criticize her and PRPA for not informing them of the closure ahead of time.
“I’m upset with PRPA,” Overcash said. “I’m upset with their board, and I’m upset with their management.”
“I have gotten to enjoy many ambushes over the last two and a half years,” Marsh said. “I know that if somebody actually wanted to have a discussion with me, they would alert me in advance.”
Bernosky also spoke and said PRPA officials asked representatives of member communities to hold off on announcing the closure until the news was broken to Rawhide Unit 1 employees.
Following suggestions by Overcash and Clark, Bernosky said he would invite PRPA general manager and CEO Jason Frisbie to speak to the council.
Ward III councilor John Fogle, Overcash and others said they wanted to hear from Frisbie how the authority planned to satisfy a list of nine “caveats” that the council supported as advancements toward reaching the 2030 renewable energy goal.
City Clerk Patti Garcia said on Thursday that Frisbie’s presentation has been tentatively scheduled for the council’s next meeting on July 7.
