County Greenlights Permit Built on a Lie: Bombshell Disclosure Proves PRPA Sought Gas Approval Months Before Controversial 2024 IRP Was Finalized
Larimer County’s 1041 Conditional Approval Based on Manipulated Record, Now Stands in Violation of Federal Energy Emergency Orders
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LONGMONT, CO — In a stunning revelation that casts doubt on the legality and legitimacy of the Platte River Power Authority’s (PRPA) Rawhide gas plant approval, documents confirm that PRPA submitted a formal “pre-application” permit inquiry for new gas turbines on April 5, 2024—months before completing its legally required Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). The IRP, finalized later in 2024, was publicly represented as the basis for determining whether a new gas plant was necessary.
But the April 5, 2024 pre-application proves the decision had already been made—rendering the IRP process a post-hoc justification, not a genuine public planning process.
“Platte River has decided to implement new aeroderivative turbines that will serve as dispatchable generation at Rawhide,” states the April 5, 2024 project narrative submitted to the Larimer County Planning Department.
“Construction of the proposed new generation units is anticipated to begin during the first quarter of 2026.”
“Installation of up to six (6) new simple cycle natural gas fired aeroderivative turbine generator units…” along with related infrastructure such as “air intake filtration systems, emissions control modules… and generator step-up (GSU) transformers” was described in detail as a fixed plan—not a proposal under review.
This newly disclosed pre-application, made well in advance of any public IRP modeling, Board approval, or community input, show that PRPA had already committed to the project and was actively securing permits while telling the public that planning was still underway.
Permit Conditions Based on a Manipulated Record
On April 21, 2025, the Larimer County Board of Commissioners conditionally approved PRPA’s 1041 permit, despite having this manipulated process as its foundation. The approved permit includes a series of conditions—many of which explicitly intend to restrict natural gas generation and modeling assumptions now in direct violation of federal Executive Orders.
Among the most problematic:
Condition 34: Directs PRPA to explore a ban on exporting excess gas generation outside its own service territory on high ozone days, potentially in violation of multiple laws.
Condition 35: Requires detailed modeling of natural gas turbine demand that “justifies the amount of energy generation that is required to maintain reliability”—even as federal policy forcefully shifts away from allowing restrictions of any kind on generation to maintain reliability.
Condition 36: Instructs PRPA to develop a new “comprehensive alternative long-term emissions reduction strategy” without any consideration of current federal policy, potentially further undermining Executive Order directives to prioritize coal reliability and resist forced decarbonization.
This motion for additional conditions on approval of PRPA’s 5-turbine gas permit was approved 3-0 by the Larimer County Commission on April 21, 2025.
These conditions reflect a wide-ranging commitment to restrictions on gas generation that directly threaten energy security and contradict national energy policy, setting up the Northern Colorado region for imminent conflict with the priorities of the Trump administration.
Federal Intervention Urged
PRPA’s entire permit application and the County’s approval process were predicated on now-obsolete Biden-era assumptions about decarbonization. But under Executive Order 14156 (January 20, 2025) and four additional orders signed on April 8, 2025, the federal government has declared a National Energy Emergency, prioritizing domestic energy security and protecting critical coal infrastructure.
The Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution establishes that federal law—including active Executive Orders—preempts conflicting state or local actions. Larimer County’s approval of this permit, relying on a manipulated IRP and encouraging expanded gas use, stands in direct conflict with the federal energy emergency directive now in effect.
Citizens are calling on:
The U.S. Department of Energy to immediately review PRPA’s IRP and permit application for compliance with Executive Orders 14156, 14161, and 14163;
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to launch an investigation into whether the County’s actions violate federal energy security and environmental policy;
Local City Councils in Longmont, Loveland, Fort Collins, and Estes Park to revoke their endorsement of PRPA’s 2024 IRP in light of the newly uncovered procedural breach.
A Permit Built on False Premises
From the April 5, 2024 letter to the April 2025 conditional approval, the timeline now reveals a plan that was never truly up for debate. Public listening sessions, IRP modeling, and Board deliberations were effectively performed under false pretenses.
“The turbine generator, as well as all ancillary systems, will be designed for extreme weather events… each combustion turbine enclosure is anticipated to be approximately 37 feet tall, and exhaust stacks… 100 feet tall.”
“Aqueous ammonia storage and use will be a new material for operation of the new aeroderivative turbines…”
“Estimated acreage required… is generally anticipated to require approximately 25 acres within the existing facility.”
These disclosures raise urgent questions about the legitimacy of Larimer County’s 1041 review process. If the foundational premise of the IRP—that the gas plant decision would be evaluated through open modeling and public input—was false from the outset, then the County’s approval of the permit may be procedurally invalid. The public was never truly consulted; they were managed. The IRP process was reduced to performance—a rubber stamp for a decision that had already been made in secret.
At stake is not only the legality of a single permit, but the integrity of regional energy planning across Northern Colorado. By allowing PRPA to pre-empt its own planning process and then retroactively justify a major fossil fuel expansion, Larimer County has set a dangerous precedent. Utilities and planners now have a blueprint for bypassing meaningful community input, submitting permits under the guise of transparency while locking in infrastructure with decades-long impacts.
As Colorado utilities move forward in an era defined by federal reassertion of energy sovereignty, this kind of procedural manipulation cannot be allowed to stand. Larimer County’s decision to approve the Rawhide permit on the basis of a falsified record threatens to bring the entire regional planning process into legal jeopardy. And if local governments believe they can selectively enforce outdated decarbonization policies while ignoring active federal energy directives, they will soon find themselves in direct conflict with the full weight of federal enforcement.
Citizens are calling for full federal review of both PRPA’s IRP and Larimer County’s permitting process.
Ethan Augreen for Freedom is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
