ECMC approves Kermitage Midwest oil-and-gas development plan with timing, reporting and electrification conditions

The Energy and Carbon Management Commission narrowly approved the Midwest Oil and Gas Development Plan (OGDP) filed by Kermitage on Jan. 14, 2026, attaching conditions intended to reduce potential impacts on nearby schools, groundwater and wildlife.

Kermitage presented the Midwest OGDP as a single working pad to develop 12 horizontal wells across approximately 2,640 mineral acres near the Town of Mead. Counsel Kelsey Wasielinski and regulatory manager Rachel Friedman described site selection, an Alternative Location Analysis, coordination with Colorado Parks and Wildlife (including Bald Eagle winter night-roost timing stipulations) and a package of best-management practices: an electrically powered drilling rig, EPA Tier 4 engines for hydraulic fracturing, Group 3 oil-based drilling fluids, air-monitoring during preproduction and the first six months of production, sound walls, pipeline takeaway for produced oil, and traffic controls to avoid school pickup and drop-off periods.

Town of Mead planner Alex Ailey told commissioners the town’s special-use permit had been unanimously approved on Dec. 8, 2025 and that Kermitage had satisfied local notice and referral requirements.

Commissioners focused on three recurring concerns during questions and deliberation: very shallow groundwater at the site (recorded nearby at roughly 3.2 feet), the presence of a soon-to-open school facility and anticipated residential development nearby, and produced-water handling (no immediate pipeline takeaway for produced water). Kermitage described a mitigation plan for groundwater that includes installing an intercept diversion ditch, geotechnical monitoring of groundwater and staged construction to allow soils to dry, plus monitoring wells and a commitment to reconfigure timing if site conditions prevent safe construction.

Chair Robbins proposed—and staff drafted—a set of conditions of approval (COAs) to reduce school‑year impacts and improve oversight. The principal COAs adopted by the commission require:

• Pad construction and production-facility construction to occur June 1–Aug. 30, 2026 (ditch installation excluded from that timing restriction because it is a precondition to pad work).

• Drilling and completions operations to occur April 1–Sept. 30, 2027, with the operator making "best efforts" to complete those operations by Sept. 9, 2027.

• If ground conditions prevent construction during the prescribed window, the operator may file a Form 4 sundry to request deviation; significant changes can be elevated to the full commission under rule 301(c).

• The operator must provide monthly reports April–mid-August 2027 describing progress and efforts to meet the Sept. 9 completion target; reports will be delivered to the ECMC director and the commission.

• All drilling-rig engines and turbines ≥50 horsepower must be powered by grid power or non‑fossil‑fuel generated power (electrification COA aligned with AQCC/Reg 7 commitments).

After deliberation, the commission voted 4–1 to approve the Midwest OGDP with those COAs. Roll call: Commissioner Ackerman — yes; Commissioner Cross — yes; Commissioner Messner — no; Commissioner Oth — yes; Chair Robbins — yes. AAG and staff confirmed the COAs are enforceable conditions of approval and that operating outside them without approved relief would constitute a violation subject to enforcement.

Kermitage agreed on the record to the COA language and to use the Form 4 process to seek relief if site conditions required adjustments.

The approval allows Kermitage to proceed subject to the adopted COAs and continued interagency oversight by ECMC staff, CDPHE and CPW.