The Denver Post’s Judith Kohler reports that Xcel Energy is seeking a $355 million increase in yearly revenue from its Colorado electric customers. If regulators approve the full request, state staff say electric bills will have climbed about 33% since 2023, with the new request adding nearly another 10% to average residential bills.
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission staff and the Colorado Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate are recommending regulators approve only about half, or less, of what Xcel requested. The company says the increase is needed to recover investments in the electric system, including transmission, distribution, wildfire mitigation, grid modernization, cleaner energy, transportation electrification, and fuel costs. Which is a very fancy way of saying: grab your wallet, citizen, resilience has a surcharge.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Xcel wants $355 million more in annual electric revenue. Because apparently your monthly bill looked lonely and needed a workout partner.
- If fully approved, electric bills would be up 33% since 2023. Has everybody received a 33% pay raise since then? Ya, me neither.
- PUC staff and the consumer advocate are urging regulators to approve far less than Xcel wants. Good. Somebody in the room should at least pretend the ratepayer still matters.
- The article points to “riders,” those add-on charges that stack on bills after general rates are approved. Riders are the utility-bill version of hotel resort fees: by the time you notice them, you are already paying.
- The consumer advocate accused Xcel of “pancaking” rate increases and taking an aggressive approach to maximizing shareholder benefit. That is government-speak for “this pancake stack is landing on your kitchen table.”
My Bottom Line
Great. Just great. This is really super duper.
Coloradans are already getting squeezed from every direction. Groceries are up. Insurance is up. Property taxes are up. Gas is up. Fees are up. Housing is ridiculous. And now here comes Xcel with another request that could push electric bills up sharply, while normal families are trying to figure out how to keep the lights on without taking out a second mortgage on the crockpot.
Yes, infrastructure costs money. Yes, wildfire mitigation matters. Yes, reliability matters. Nobody wants a fragile grid, especially in a state where wind, snow, fire, hail, and bureaucratic overconfidence all seem to arrive on alternating Tuesdays. But affordability matters too. At some point, ratepayers stop being customers and start feeling like hostages with thermostats.
The most maddening part is that these increases never seem to land alone. They stack. They “pancake.” Electric rates. Gas rates. Riders. Fees. Clean energy transitions. Modernization charges. Every policy dream, regulatory mandate, and capital project eventually finds its way to the bill in your mailbox.
So here is the question: has everybody received a pay raise to keep up with Xcel’s rate increases? Ya, me neither.
Colorado’s affordability crisis is not theoretical. It is sitting on kitchen tables in the form of bills people dread opening. Regulators need to remember that before they rubber-stamp another round of “necessary investments” paid for by families who are already being asked to do more with less. Xcel may need a healthy balance sheet, but Colorado families need one too.
Source: The Denver Post
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