Colorado Springs Utilities will shut down power production at the downtown Martin Drake Power Plant on Thursday as part of long-term plans to take down one of the last remaining urban power plants in the country.   

“Today’s milestone is bittersweet because it marks the end of an era. Our city will move forward with cleaner, but still reliable and affordable forms of energy, and our enhanced downtown skyline will help us continue to be a city that matches our beautiful scenery,” said Mayor John Suthers, in a news release. 

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Utilities ended coal burning operations at Drake in August last year but has continued to operate two natural gas generators at times of high demand for electricity in the community. 

Six new modular natural gas units have gone up on the power plant site — southwest of Cimarron and Conejos streets on downtown’s southwest side — and will start running in early next year until new transmission can be built to move them elsewhere. 

The large traditional power plant — whose plumes of steam dominated the downtown skyline for decades — is also slated to come down as part of a process likely to take several years, including environmental reclamation. 

Most Drake employees have found other jobs within Utilities since coal-burning operations ended last year.

“I am extremely grateful to our employees, both past and present, who helped the Drake Power Plant operate as a fixture of reliability and efficiency for nearly 100 years, and who have helped us reach this vital milestone,” said Aram Benyamin, Chief Executive Officer for Springs Utilities.

Natural gas units going up at Drake Power Plant, deconstruction of building likely years out

Closing Drake helps meet the state’s greenhouse gas reduction goals that aim to cut total emissions by 50% in 2030 down from 2005 levels. 

Colorado Springs Utilities expects to cut emissions at least 80% by 2030. 

It is also overall cheaper for the utility to transition to other fuels and away from coal, because of the high operations and maintenance costs.  

Much of the work to take down the building will happen indoors first.

Utilities plans to salvage equipment for internal use and then sell as much of the building as possible for scrap to help recover costs, said Travas Deal chief operations officer previously.

The shell of the building will be one of the last things to come down.

Utilities is still selecting a contractor to decommission the site, so it’s unknown how much the project will cost.

The environmental cleanup of the site will be a separate step and it will need to address contamination such as coal dust and the residue from burning the coal, he said previously.

This story has been updated to correct the date when Utilities expects to cut emissions by 80%.

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