Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU)

partnered with

Idaho National Laboratory / Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Adding Nuclear to the Mix:
Feasibility Study, NE-25-37811

YEAR AWARDED: FY-2025

ABSTRACT:

Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) have served the Colorado Springs, CO community with safe, reliable, and competitively priced power for more than 100 years. Their focus is on the basics, providing exceptional service while keeping costs low for customers. CSU is the largest municipal utility in the nation to offer all four essential services, water, wastewater, natural gas, and electricity.

CSU must implement cost-effective alternatives to maintain grid reliability and meet future demand. CSU is looking at potential retirement of base load generating facilities and is looking at other potential options for base load generation to support reliability of the energy system. In February 2025, the Colorado Springs Utilities Policy Advisory Committee recommended embarking on a nuclear generation evaluation study. The goal of this project is to study utilization of nuclear in an Integrated Energy System (IES).

CSU will partner with Idaho National Laboratory (INL) for techno-economic analysis with decision modeling and with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for the water availability and optimal usage analyses. The study will also assess the feasibility and application of small modular reactors (SMRs) in the CSU service territory.