Colorado

Buying Land in Moffat County, Colorado

Moffat County is real ranch and recreation country in Colorado's northwest corner, but it's also in the middle of a well-documented economic transition: the coal-fired Craig Station power plant and the mines that feed it are winding down, with real dollar figures and job counts attached, and the closure timeline itself has kept shifting. Here's what's specific to this county, not generic Colorado land-buying advice.

Coal Transition: Real, Documented, and Still Moving

Case-by-case / verify locally

Tri-State Generation and Transmission's Craig Station power plant and the two coal mines that supply it (Colowyo and Trapper) accounted for about 43% of Moffat County's property tax revenue and 437 jobs as of the figures underlying the county's 2024 negotiations with Tri-State. Colowyo filed a WARN notice in November 2025 laying off 133 workers with production ending by December 2025; Trapper Mine's closure is expected sometime between 2026 and 2030. Craig Station's own closure timeline has been genuinely unsettled: Unit 1 was originally slated to close by the end of 2025, but a federal Department of Energy emergency order forced Tri-State to keep it running into 2026, and litigation/negotiation over the plant's future was ongoing as of late 2025 and early 2026. If you're evaluating land tied to this economy -- housing near Craig, land depending on plant/mine-linked local spending -- confirm the current status directly rather than relying on any single closure date, since it has already changed more than once.

Tri-State Settlement: $70 Million in Documented Transition Aid

Generally favorable

In 2024, Tri-State agreed to provide Moffat County and the City of Craig up to $70 million in aid tied to the coal transition -- roughly $22 million in direct Community Economic Development Trust Fund payments (2026-2029) plus up to $48 million in backstop property-tax-revenue payments (2028-2038, with offsets), along with water rights for the county's Lower Yampa River Augmentation Plan. Colorado's 2019 Just Transition legislation and Office of Just Transition are also funneling state support here -- Moffat County and Craig are slated for a meaningful share of that program's funds. This is a real, negotiated cushion for local economic-development efforts, not a speculative promise, though how it plays out for any specific area or project is not guaranteed.

County Zoning: Agricultural and Rural Residential Districts

Generally favorable

Moffat County administers its own zoning resolution (outside city limits) with an Agricultural (A) District carrying a 5-acre minimum lot size requiring private water and septic, and a Rural Residential (R-R) District built around 3-acre lots. Confirm the specific district for a parcel with the Planning Department before assuming either threshold applies -- these are the two districts we could verify, but the full zoning map may include others.

Building Permits: Combined Craig/Moffat Regional Building Department

Generally favorable

Moffat County uses a combined Craig/Moffat Regional Building Department that has adopted the 2018 International Codes. Permits are required for structures over 200 square feet, fences over 6 feet, retaining walls over 4 feet, and septic systems (a separate $100 fee applies to septic permits, issued through the building department). This is a genuinely joint city-county department, so confirm which jurisdiction (city vs. unincorporated county) applies to a specific parcel.

The Craig Station and coal-mine transition: what's actually documented

Craig Station is Tri-State Generation and Transmission's coal-fired power plant, and it's the anchor of a genuinely large local economic story: it and its two supplying mines -- Colowyo Coal Co. and Trapper Mine -- together represented 43% of Moffat County's property tax revenue and 437 jobs going into the 2024 closure negotiations. Colowyo's closure is the most concrete data point: the company filed a WARN Act notice in November 2025, laid off 133 workers effective January 2026, and halted coal production by December 2025. Trapper Mine's closure has been publicly estimated for sometime between 2026 and 2030, tied to the plant's own retirement schedule.

Craig Station's closure date itself is the part to watch closely if you're researching this county: Unit 1 was originally set to close by the end of 2025 with Units 2 and 3 following in 2028, but a federal Department of Energy emergency order in late 2025 forced Tri-State to keep Unit 1 running into 2026 over the company's own stated preference to close it, and the situation was still contested (with disputes over who bears the cost of continued operation) into early 2026. Whatever the eventual date, this is not a stable, settled fact -- if the transition timeline matters to your land decision, check current reporting rather than relying on any date in this page or elsewhere.

A negotiated $70 million cushion, and Just Transition funding

In a first-of-its-kind deal reported in mid-2024, Tri-State agreed to pay Moffat County and the City of Craig up to $70 million over the coming years: roughly $22 million in direct Community Economic Development Trust Fund benefit payments between 2026 and 2029, and Minimum Backstop Property Tax Revenue Payments of up to $48 million between 2028 and 2038 (subject to specified reduction offsets), plus water rights tied to the county's Lower Yampa River Augmentation Plan. This settlement followed the county's own ask for $118 million in aid the year before, so treat the $70 million figure as the negotiated outcome, not the county's original request.

Separately, Colorado's 2019 legislation creating the Office of Just Transition appropriated funding specifically to help coal communities like this one navigate mine and plant closures, and Moffat County/Craig are positioned to receive a substantial share of those state funds. Together, this means the local government here has real, documented resources aimed at economic diversification -- a genuinely different starting position than a county facing an uncushioned industry exit.

County zoning and the combined regional building department

Outside Craig's city limits, Moffat County zoning includes at least an Agricultural (A) District, with a 5-acre minimum lot/parcel size and a requirement for private water and septic service, and a Rural Residential (R-R) District built around 3-acre lots. The Moffat County Planning Department (contact: Candace Miller, per the county's published contact list) handles zoning questions, permitted-use determinations, setbacks, lot-size requirements, and conditional-use or variance applications for the full zoning resolution -- confirm a parcel's actual district before assuming either the 5-acre or 3-acre threshold applies, since the complete zoning map may include additional districts we could not fully verify.

Building permitting runs through the combined Craig/Moffat Regional Building Department, which has adopted the 2018 International Codes. Permits are required for any structure over 200 square feet, fences taller than 6 feet, retaining walls taller than 4 feet, and septic systems (a $100 fee applies specifically to septic permits, issued through the building department). Because this is a joint city-county department, confirm which jurisdiction's underlying land-use rules apply to your specific parcel -- city zoning inside Craig differs from the county's Agricultural and Rural Residential districts outside it.

What we could and couldn't confirm

The coal-transition figures in this page (property tax share, job counts, settlement dollar amounts, and closure dates) come from contemporaneous news reporting and county/company statements as cited, current as of the access date. This is an explicitly live situation -- Craig Station's closure timeline has already changed at least once due to a federal emergency order, and mine-closure schedules can shift -- so treat every date and dollar figure here as a snapshot, not a guarantee, and verify current status before making a decision that depends on it. Zoning district minimum lot sizes reflect what we could verify for the Agricultural and Rural Residential districts specifically; the county's full zoning map may include other districts not covered here.

Verify directly with: Moffat County's Planning Department for zoning, the Craig/Moffat Regional Building Department for permits, and current news coverage or the county for the latest status of the Craig Station/coal-mine transition

Who to Call Before Buying Land in Moffat County

Well permitting for any parcel here is a state function through the Colorado Division of Water Resources -- see the state hub. The coal-transition figures and dates in this page were current as of late 2025/early 2026 reporting and are explicitly a moving target; confirm the current status of Craig Station and the Colowyo and Trapper mines with current news coverage or the county before relying on any specific closure date.

Planning & Zoning

Moffat County Planning Department

Confirming a parcel's zoning district (Agricultural, Rural Residential, or other), permitted uses, setbacks, lot-size requirements, and conditional-use or variance applications.

Phone: (970) 824-9148Official website →

Building & Permitting