PRPA plans $466M capital spending over next five years

FORT COLLINS — Platte River Power Authority, if its board concurs, will spend upward of $466.2 million over the next five years to support capital projects, mostly in the area of conversion to non-carbon-generating sources.

The board heard a budget presentation Thursday morning from Jason Harris, controller of the wholesale utility that provides electrical power to Loveland, Longmont, Fort Collins and Estes Park.

Harris noted in his presentation that no new non-carbon resources are coming on line in 2024, but in 2025 and beyond, there will be non-carbon additions. Many of those, however, are not part of the capital budget because that power is derived through purchased power agreements where someone else pays the upfront capital costs.

But to prepare for a non-carbon future for the utility, capital expenses will be needed, according to the presentation. Having all components in place before retiring the utility’s coal generators means that investments have to begin now, because some of them will require five years to complete, utility managers told the board.

A total of $259.3 million is projected over the next five years for production additions, such as dispatchable resources that the utility staff recommended to the board. 

Transmission capital spending adds another $174.7 million, with many of those capital projects related to the non-carbon transition. Substation expansions will be needed, along with transmission line additions to serve purchased power solar fields and wind networks.

The utility plans $24.6 million in software upgrades, many of which are needed to track where power is coming from and going to and maintaining balanced loads. Finally, the utility will have expenses related to asset retirements, including about $7.1 million in reclamation costs related to the shutdown of Trapper Mine.

Harris noted that total energy delivered by the utility will decline in 2024 because it will be generating less energy for sale to other users outside of the four cities. 

Jason Frisbie, general manager of the utility, said that non-carbon resources available in the marketplace are driving down the usage of carbon sources such as those that might otherwise come from Rawhide 1, the long-time workhorse generator for Platte River. 

The utility doesn’t always know whether the purchased power is non-carbon or not, but “if we’re buying for 2 cents or less, you’re almost guaranteed that it’s someone else’s excess wind energy,” Frisbie said.

He also said that Rawhide is running at about 53% capacity, instead of the historic 90% capacity, because renewables are pushing down coal, which is a higher-cost energy in today’s markets.

He invited people to look at the utility’s website, where electrical loads are posted and updated every five minutes. “You can see the changing trends happening in real time,” he said.

The PRPA board, which is composed of the mayors and utility managers from each of the four cities, will consider the budget at a later meeting.

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