For Immediate Release
Date: October 8, 2020
Contact: Office of Government, Policy and Public Relations - cdle_pr@state.co.us
Website: cdle.colorado.gov
In August, the Just Transition Advisory Committee (JTAC) submitted a draft plan to assist coal-transition workers and coal-transition communities in Colorado. The Office of Just Transition is asking Coloradans for feedback on that draft plan. Residents can provide feedback until November 30, 2020 by filling out this survey.
A final Colorado Just Transition Plan is due to Governor Jared Polis and the Colorado Legislature at the end of the year. The final plan will be prepared by the Office of Just Transition and the executive directors of the Department of Labor and Employment and the Department of Local Affairs, based on the draft plan, feedback from Colorado residents, and other factors.
You can read the draft plan here.
Colorado created the Office of Just Transition in 2019 through House Bill 19-1314 to assist workers and communities that will be adversely affected by the loss of jobs and revenues due to the closure of coal mines and coal-fired power plants. Its purpose is to help workers continue to thrive by transitioning to good new jobs, and to help communities continue to thrive by expanding and attracting diverse businesses, creating jobs, and replacing lost revenues. The bill also created the Just Transition Advisory Committee to help develop a plan for how the state will fulfill this commitment.
The work of the Office of Just Transition and the JTAC comes at a critical time: eight coal-fired electrical power generating plants remained in Colorado in 2019. One (in Nucla) closed in September of that year. Four more (in Moffat, El Paso and Larimer counties) are officially scheduled to close between 2023 and 2030, and two of the three generating units of the plant in Pueblo are also scheduled to shut by 2026.