Arapahoe County planning commission recommends approval of Canyon Peak natural‑gas power station

The Arapahoe County Planning Commission on June 17 recommended approval of a special‑use review for the Canyon Peak Power Station, a proposed 156‑megawatt natural‑gas generation facility to be built on a leased portion of a 20‑acre parcel next to the Bridal Center substation near Bennett. The commission voted 5 to 0 to forward the application, UASI25‑001, to the Board of County Commissioners subject to 10 conditions.

Molly Orkin Larson, principal planner in the county's public works division, summarized the application and staff analysis and said, "Based on the findings in the staff report, staff is recommending approval for the USR." The facility applicant is Canyon Peak Power LLC; the underlying property owner is Core Electric Cooperative.

The project would occupy about 11 acres under lease from Core and include six aeroderivative gas turbines (GE LM2500‑express units) with individual stacks roughly 80 feet tall, an administration and control building, a fire suppression loop with a 185,000‑gallon fire water tank, on‑site detention, and a nearly 3.9‑mile natural‑gas lateral that would connect to the Colorado Interstate pipeline. Project engineers said each turbine produces about 26 net megawatts for a combined net output of about 156 megawatts.

Developer Tom Flexen, vice president of development for Bridal Energy, described the project as dispatchable generation that Core will purchase under a…