Plans are moving ahead for the unprecedented building of new gas infrastructure across Colorado by the Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy.
That build-out plan, which includes new pipelines and compressor stations, comes with a $567 million price tag.
The company, which currently services around 1.5 million people in the Centennial State, operating through a complex 26,000-mile network of transmission and distribution pipelines, has said that it expects to spend upwards of $2.9 billion in new infrastructure by the year 2030.
So far, members of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission have given their approval to just a portion of the utility company’s big plans, a $23 million effort to build a pipeline carrying natural gas over Rollins Pass just outside Nederland in northern Colorado.
In state documents, Xcel has said it has a portfolio of needs that include demand response, acceleration of the construction of new generation units, plant repairs, and the temporary extension of operations at its Commanche Unit 2 coal-fired generation unit in Pueblo.
Despite criticisms from some environmental groups, the Public Utilities Commission late last year agreed to keep the Commanche Unit running until December 31 of this year, instead of the original deadline of the last day of 2025.
Besides Colorado, Xcel Energy currently operates in Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin.
July 10, 2026
By Garry Boulard
