CORE, then Intermountain Rural Electric Association, elected to purchase a minority share of 25.33% in the Comanche coal plant proposed by Public Service Company of Colorado, doing business as Xcel, in 2006, along with another Colorado cooperative, Holy Cross Energy. PSCo is the majority owner and serves as operator for the plant. The plant began operations in 2010. CORE is entitled to approximately 190 megawatts from its 750 MW Unit 3 generator. Historically, Comanche Unit 3 supplied CORE with 1,150,000 megawatt-hours of energy each year from 2011 to 2023.
PSCo has proposed early closure of the plant. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission, which regulates PSCO’s resource planning, has approved this early closure and a gradual reduction in generation output from the plant between 2025 and 2030. CORE expects to continue using energy and capacity from Comanche Unit 3 to meet members’ electrical needs through its closure. Additional resources will be procured to replace the energy from the plant once it is closed.