Last week, Xcel Energy made a backroom deal with the Colorado Oil and Gas Association and state and local leaders to put forward a proposal to burn coal at Colorado’s biggest and dirtiest coal plant until 2035, recover all the costs of the broken coal plant on the backs of ratepayers, and build new gas plants that can burn gas for as long as they want despite Colorado’s vision of 100% renewable energy by 2040. For the sake of consumer protection, our health and our climate we absolutely cannot let that happen.

The Comanche 3 coal plant is the single largest source of climate pollution in Colorado, the most unreliable power plant in the state, and one of the most expensive. Despite all the problems, metro area ratepayers of Xcel Energy are still stuck paying for it. The announcement of this bad deal came exactly one week before the Public Utilities Commission will hear from the public on Xcel’s draft Clean Energy Plan at a statewide public comment hearing. At a time when the Denver and Aurora metro area is seeing record-high temperatures and bad air quality days, we can’t afford to compromise the health and safety of our communities for Xcel’s shareholders.

This summer, the metro area had over 65 days with bad-air-day action alerts. On those days, ozone pollution was over the health-based standard set by the Environmental Protection Agency and children, the elderly, and those with pre-existing respiratory conditions were encouraged to stay indoors. The impact of ozone pollution has been compared to a sunburn on our lungs. It’s known to cause particulate matter pollution that contributes to asthma attacks, and other respiratory and cardiac health complications. The state has been out of compliance with air quality requirements for nearly two decades – we cannot afford to keep kicking the can down the road or blaming others for our challenges.

On the days that we had bad air quality alerts, community members were asked to avoid mowing their lawns, runners were encouraged not to run, and car commuters were urged to take public transportation or avoid additional driving. Coloradans had to take these precautions for over two months. In Aurora, as with many metro cities, using public transit instead of cars is not an option for many residents. While burning fossil fuels is not the only contributor to the pollution crisis we face, it is one of several key factors in our worsening air quality. Accepting incremental changes that fall short of what this moment requires is equivalent to saying that urgent action is not in fact needed.

It doesn’t have to be this way, but if we don’t act now, warmer temperatures due to a changing climate will continue to exacerbate our poor air quality. Colorado’s electricity system and transportation system are two of the biggest opportunities to reduce pollution, but driving electric vehicles won’t do much if we continue to burn fossil fuels like coal and gas to charge them. We need big changes in the electric sector to reduce pollution from every other sector of Colorado’s economy through electrification. We can’t electrify our cars, trucks, homes, businesses, schools and other buildings without responsibly and swiftly taking Xcel’s dirty and polluting coal and gas plants offline.

Xcel Energy and the Public Utilities Commission have the opportunity right now to make sure Colorado sees much needed pollution reductions over the next decade. Instead of doing everything we can, this new backroom deal would slowly inch Colorado off of the Comanche 3 coal plant between now and 2035. What’s worse is that the deal allows Xcel to recover all of the cost of this expensive lemon of a coal plant and also own $626 million worth of the resources that replace it. It’s essentially a corporate giveaway to Colorado’s biggest utility, Xcel at the expense of my constituent’s pocket books and our climate.

There wasn’t a single environmental organization that supported Xcel’s backroom deal. That’s because we can do better for our health and our environment. Compromising on the date of closure for our state’s biggest coal plant is compromising the health and safety of our neighbors. Now is the time for Colorado to clean up its act when it comes to reducing air pollution and combating the climate crisis. The Public Utilities Commission should reject Xcel’s backroom deal and require Xcel to make plans to responsibly transition Colorado communities off of the Comanche 3 coal plant no later than 2030.

Alison Coombs represents Ward 5 on the Aurora City Council.