On Friday, Sen. Michael Bennet weighed in on the negotiated settlement agreement meant to help Craig and Moffat County through the closure of the Craig Station coal-fired power plant.

“For years, when I’ve visited Craig and other communities in Northwest Colorado, I’ve heard concerns about what coal mine and power plant closures will mean for their main streets and way of life,” Bennet said in a news release. “Communities like Craig need support to smooth the transition, long-term economic certainty, and resources to help them thrive. This agreement is a major step in the right direction. I’m grateful to have worked alongside leaders from Moffat County and Craig as they carve out a new path forward, and I’ll keep fighting to ensure energy communities that have powered our state for decades are able to prosper in the future.”

If approved, the agreement will provide up to $70 million in financial and other support from 2026-38 for the economic transition resulting from the closure of Craig Station.

Per the agreement, the county will also pick up new water rights, and Tri-State will put out a request for proposals for a new dispatchable natural gas plant and accept bids only in Moffat County.

According to the senator’s office, Bennet has long worked to support communities in Northwest Colorado and started hearing from local leaders in February 2020 about the challenges created by the planned coal plant closures in Craig and Hayden.

In the news release, the senator’s office cited as examples his participation in a roundtable discussion with officials from Moffat, Routt and Rio Blanco counties in August 2021, and him introducing the National Energy Community Transition Act, which the senator’s office says included input from Northwest Colorado leaders, in May 2022.

The release also highlighted $4.65 million for the new Moffat County Courthouse through the Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations process, while saying Bennet has worked to help secure federal funding for local projects and “is particularly proud of how Moffat County repurposed an old KMart building into a new courthouse and county center.”