Topeka ? The Colorado power company wanting to build a 700-megawatt coal-fired plant in western Kansas should abandon that plan and opt for conservation and renewable energy sources.

That’s the conclusion of an analysis released Monday that was conducted by Summit Blue Consulting for Western Resource Advocates, an environmental group.

But Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, based in Westminster, Colo., said it still supports building a coal-burning plant near Holcomb.

Under the proposal, Tri-State would own one 700-megawatt plant, and Sunflower Electric Power Corp. and a Texas company would jointly own another 700-megawatt plant. Both plants would be built near Sunflower’s existing 360-megawatt plant. About 85 percent of the electricity from the plants would be sold to customers in Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma.

But last month, Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Roderick Bremby rejected the two proposed plants, citing concerns with carbon dioxide emissions and global warming.

Sunflower and Tri-State say they will fight the decision in court.

“The secretary made an arbitrary and capricious decision,” said Tri-State spokesman Lee Boughey. He said Tri-State is “absolutely” committed to the project.

But the analysis by Summit Blue said Bremby’s decision gives Tri-State managers an opportunity to reassess their power source strategy.

Sticking with its proposed coal-fired power plant “does not increase either the diversity or flexibility of resources,” the analysis says.

Considering the potential costs of carbon dioxide regulation and increasing construction costs, Tri-State’s plan makes it “highly vulnerable to changes in the cost of electricity,” the report says.

But Boughey rejected the report’s portrayal of Tri-State, saying that Tri-State has a balanced energy plan that includes coal, renewable energy and conservation. He said the company supported a recent plan approved in Colorado to require energy companies to derive 10 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020.

Boughey said the Holcomb project will be discussed today by Tri-State board members during their monthly meeting.

“This is an important project to us,” he said.

Environmentalists say Tri-State should abandon the Holcomb project and focus on energy efficiency, developing wind energy in Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming, and exploring carbon-reducing technologies. Western Resource Advocates say they hope the report it commissioned will sway Tri-State board members.