Texas Clears Xcel Energy Plan to Retire Tolk Coal Plant by 2029, Approve 1,600 MW Renewables Package

The Texas Public Utility Commission has approved Southwestern Public Service Company’s plan to close the Tolk coal-fired power station near Lubbock and replace its capacity with a broad portfolio of renewable energy and battery storage. SPS operates as an Xcel Energy subsidiary.

The Tolk plant is scheduled to shut down in early 2029. Under the approved transition plan, SPS will use existing transmission rights to connect new generation assets comprising 1,100 MW of wind capacity, 189 MW of solar, and 322 MW of battery energy storage systems. The resulting power will flow to customers across the Southwest Power Pool footprint, which covers portions of Texas and New Mexico.

Regulators also signed off on two gas-fired peaker plants as part of the broader replacement mix, though they imposed limits on capital expenditures for those facilities.

The Sierra Club highlighted water conservation as a notable co-benefit of the transition. In 2024, the Tolk station drew 1.2 billion gallons of groundwater — already well below the 3.3 billion gallons it consumed in 2015. Switching away from coal, the group said, would significantly reduce that remaining demand on scarce local aquifers.

Source: CleanTechnica