Paul Aiken, Daily CameraXcel Energy stopped burning coal at the Valmont Power Plant in Boulder on March 3, 2017. A bill that would make it easier to decommission aging coal plants in the state, while also assisting rural communities hurt by any closures, won approval Monday in the Colorado House of Representatives. But support for the measure split along party lines, increasing the odds that House Bill 17-1339 will find itself stranded in the Republican-controlled Senate. “I am hopeful the Senate will see advantages for the ratepayers and pass the bill,” said the bill’s House sponsor, Chris Hansen, D-Denver. The measure would apply to the “stranded,” or uneconomical, assets of regulated utilities. Xcel Energy and Black Hills Energy, Colorado’s two regulated utilities, are allowed to earn a 7 percent return on their power generating assets, even if those plants aren’t cost-competitive, and for years after they are shut down. Hansen’s bill would create a way to refinance those regulatory obligations at a much lower rate, around 3 percent, via new bonds backed with a ratepayer guarantee. Related ArticlesApril 21, 2017 U.K.