Rocky Mountain Steel Mills (CF&I) Pueblo
Large load · 2100 SOUTH FREEWAY, Pueblo, CO
The Pueblo steel mill, the former CF&I works now run as Rocky Mountain Steel Mills, is an electric arc furnace mill that melts scrap into rail, and it is one of North America's largest rail producers. It is Xcel Energy's largest retail electric customer in Colorado. Since 2018 it has bought power under a fixed-rate contract that lets Xcel interrupt the mill at peak, paired with the 240 MW Bighorn Solar plant on mill property. Atlas Holdings bought EVRAZ North America in 2025 and runs the mill under Orion Steel Companies. A new long-rail mill costing more than $1 billion is preparing to start.
Overview
In 2018 Xcel Energy signed a contract with New CF&I, the EVRAZ subsidiary, to serve the mill at fixed rates for 23 years. The mill had been fed through a direct transmission link to the Comanche coal station, which Xcel planned to retire under its Colorado Energy Plan. The contract lets Xcel interrupt service to the mill when it needs power for grid support at peak, while on-site solar keeps supplying the plant; at other times Xcel takes the solar plant's surplus for other customers. The mill's own demand in MW has not been published.
Profile
- Bighorn Solar on mill land
- Under a September 2019 three-way agreement, Lightsource BP financed, built, owns and operates the 240 MW Bighorn Solar project on Rocky Mountain Steel property and sells all of its output to Xcel Energy under a long-term power purchase agreement. Xcel described it as the largest on-site solar facility dedicated to a single customer in the country. The arrangement gives the mill price certainty through 2041. Bighorn's 240 MW is generation capacity, not the mill's load.
- New owner and a new long-rail mill
- International sanctions on EVRAZ's former parent left the mill's future uncertain until Atlas Holdings completed its purchase of EVRAZ North America in late July 2025 and reorganized it as Orion Steel Companies. Construction of the long-rail mill was disrupted in January 2023 when the main contractor laid off more than 600 workers amid a lawsuit. By April 2026 the company was preparing to start the more than $1 billion facility, which rolls 100-meter rail, and had signed a seven-year rail supply contract with Union Pacific.
Facility
- Activity
- Steel rail from electric arc furnaces using recycled scrap
- Industry
- Manufacturing
- Site type
- Facility
- Operating status
- Operating
- Demand flexibility
- Utility may interrupt service to the mill for grid support during peak periods
Permits and agreements
- Agreement
- Xcel Energy electric service contract with fixed rates for 23 years
- Agreement
- Bighorn Solar project power purchase agreement with Xcel Energy
Related records
Timeline
- Aug 22, 2018
- Xcel Energy signs a 23-year fixed-rate interruptible service contract and a 240 MW on-site solar plan with New CF&I.
Xcel Energy to develop 240 MW solar project to power steel m... |
- Sep 27, 2019
- Xcel, EVRAZ and Lightsource BP agree to develop the 240 MW Bighorn Solar project on mill property.
One of Colorado’s largest solar projects moving forward | Lightsource bp
- Apr 20, 2026
- Pueblo Star Journal reports the new seven-year rail supply contract with Union Pacific, announced April 15.
New rail contract signals stability for Pueblo steel mill after months of uncertainty - Pueblo Star Journal