Ray Nixon Power Plant

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Ray Nixon Power Plant is an operating power station of at least 207-megawatts (MW) in Fountain, El Paso, Colorado, United States. It is also known as RD Nixon power station.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Ray Nixon Power Plant	Fountain, El Paso, Colorado, United States	38.633447, -104.707803 (exact)

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

• Unit 1: 38.633447, -104.707803

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name	Status	Fuel(s)	Capacity (MW)	Technology	Start year	Retired year	Emergency/Backup
Unit 1	Operating	coal: bituminous	207	subcritical	1980	2030 (planned)	False

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name	Owner	Parent
Unit 1	City of Colorado Springs (Colorado) [100%]	City of Colorado Springs (Colorado) [100.0%]

Project-level coal details

• Coal source(s): domestic

Ownership Tree

This ownership tree is part of the Global Energy Ownership Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

Unit Retirements

In its 2020 Integrated Resource Plan, Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) said it was working on retiring all coal power generation before the end of 2030. The Martin Drake Power Plant was planned to retire before the end of 2023 and the Ray Nixon Power Plant before the end of 2030.

In November 2020 the Air Quality Control Commission approved Colorado’s regional haze plan, requiring the Nixon plant to close by 2028.

However, in December 2020, the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission voted to reverse the plan. The about-face followed objections from utilities and the Colorado Energy Office, which was coordinating Gov. Jared Polis’ efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

According to reporting from March 2025, CSU was speaking with state officials about potentially keeping the coal units at Ray Nixon online for “a few more years.”

In January 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rejected Colorado’s regional haze plan to cut air pollution in wilderness areas and national parks because the plan included the retirement of the Nixon coal plant by 2030. CSU reportedly objected to the retirement, saying that closing the plant “early would destabilize the grid and require steep bill increases.”

Emissions Data

• 2024 Gross Load (MWh): 1,119,356
• 2024 SO2 Mass (short tons): 431
• 2024 CO2 Mass (short tons): 1,269,335
• 2024 NOx Mass (short tons): 964
• 2023 Mercury emissions (Hg, lb): 10.1

Small fire breaks out at Ray Nixon Plant

On November 28, 2011 fire crews in Colorado Springs reported to a small fire at the Ray Nixon Power Plant. According to Colorado Springs Utilities, the fire was in the dust collector from coal belts and the extinguishing systems turned on, nobody was reported injured. Initial reports were of an explosion but, according to utilities, there was no explosion.

Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Ray Nixon Power Plant

In 2010, Abt Associates issued a study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, quantifying the deaths and other health effects attributable to fine particle pollution from coal-fired power plants. Fine particle pollution consists of a complex mixture of soot, heavy metals, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. Among these particles, the most dangerous are those less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which are so tiny that they can evade the lung's natural defenses, enter the bloodstream, and be transported to vital organs. Impacts are especially severe among the elderly, children, and those with respiratory disease. The study found that over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, and pneumonia each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. coal plant emissions. These deaths and illnesses are major examples of coal's external costs, i.e. uncompensated harms inflicted upon the public at large. Low-income and minority populations are disproportionately impacted as well, due to the tendency of companies to avoid locating power plants upwind of affluent communities. To monetize the health impact of fine particle pollution from each coal plant, Abt assigned a value of $7,300,000 to each 2010 mortality, based on a range of government and private studies. Valuations of illnesses ranged from $52 for an asthma episode to $440,000 for a case of chronic bronchitis.

Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Ray Nixon Power Plant

Type of Impact	Annual Incidence	Valuation
Deaths	4	$30,000,000
Heart attacks	6	$680,000
Asthma attacks	79	$4,000
Hospital admissions	3	$68,000
Chronic bronchitis	3	$1,200,000
Asthma ER visits	4	$1,000

Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011

Proposal under Clean Coal Power Initiative

In 2002, Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) received a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to work with Foster Wheeler Power and build a new 150 MW circulating fluidized bed demonstration coal plant at the existing Ray Nixon power station. The project was a part of the DOE’s Clean Coal Power Initiative. In 2003, CSU and Foster Wheeler reportedly cancelled the proposed 150 MW project.

Citizen groups

• Clean Energy Action
• Environment Colorado
• Rate Payers United of Colorado
• Sierra Club Rocky Mountain Chapter
• Wind Power Solutions

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.