WEEK OF NOVEMBER 2, 2023
VOLUME 128 | ISSUE 36
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Xcel Energy plan riles many
‘Colorado’s Power Pathway’ would impact residents along route of transmission lines BY NICKY QUINBY SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
A small group of Elbert County residents met at the Dairy Queen in Elizabeth after a recent Xcel Energy community meeting. They morosely discussed how a friend’s expansive view could soon be permanently marred by new power lines running through Elbert County. The community meeting, held at the Elbert County Fairgrounds, had been packed, with just under 300 people in attendance. The Oct. 18 meeting focused on Xcel Energy’s Colorado Power Pathway, a billion-dollar project to improve the state’s electric grid and enable future renewable energy development along the pathway. The system will span more than a dozen counties, primarily in eastern Colorado. It includes four new substations and approximately 550 to 610 miles of new transmission line. The pathway will be built in five segments. Segments 2 and 3 are already under construction and Segment 5, which is planned to run through Elbert
Chuck Hughes, owner of Cwm Ceffyl Ranch, holds a sign opposing the proposed “Colorado’s Power Pathway” at an Xcel Energy community meeting on Oct. 18 at the Elbert PHOTO COURTESY OF KERRY JIBLITS County Fairgrounds.
County, isn’t slated to be completed until 2027. Xcel held community meetings to fulfill Elbert County’s 1041 regulations (the powers of local government to regulate some development activities, named for the 1974 Colorado House Bill 1041) before the utility submits its formal permit application. Only people living within a quarter mile of the pathway are required to be notified of the meetings. The regulations further specify that one of the purposes of the meet-
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ings is to help applicants understand community concerns and adjust their application based on that input. A community meeting on Oct. 10 in Simla was cut short because Xcel representatives felt threatened. About 75 people attended and brought up objections such as destruction of forested areas, lowering of land values and the inability to sell property in the future. Many attendees also brought signs illustrating their opposition. Attendee Gary Austin explained
that a man opposed to the pathway raised his voice to address the crowd; he proclaimed that the route had already been decided and there was no hope left. Some speculate a direct threat was made to one of the security guards. Whatever the case, in the end, Xcel representatives felt things were too rowdy. They excused themselves, called the Simla Police Department, and then ended the meeting entirely. At the Oct. 18 meeting in Kiowa, Xcel added a Code of Conduct to help control the crowd. Residents at this meeting were more than willing to share their opinions about how they would be personally affected if the power pathway is built as proposed. If built, the lines will go right behind Deb and Don Gray’s home. They’ve lived in Elbert County for almost 30 years. Deb says the easement would go through a swath of trees, some of them hundreds of years old. Xcel will negotiate a one-time monetary compensation to landowners for a utility easement, giving the company the authority to use the land within a certain area. If an agreement can’t be reached with a landowner, Xcel will likely resort to the right of eminent domain and take the land anyway. Landowners near the power pathway, but without poles directly on their property, are SEE XCEL, P10
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