Local environmentalists Nancy LaPlaca and Leslie Glustrom on Wednesday appealed the regulatory approval of Xcel Energy’s plans to build two 130-megawatt natural gas combustion turbines at its Fort St. Vrain plant in Weld County.
LaPlaca and Glustrom say the turbines are a bad investment because of the soaring cost of natural gas. They want Xcel to look at alternatives such as concentrating solar power.
Xcel has already begun construction on the turbines, said spokeswoman Ethnie Groves.
“The Public Utilities Commission found that the turbines are necessary to make sure we have sufficient power supply to meet our projected electricity loads for the summer of 2009 and to respond to unanticipated events,” Groves said.
The PUC, which approved the $192 million project in March, will consider the appeal next week.
