Colorado Public Radio’s Briana Heaney reports that Colorado Springs’ “energy-wise” program has moved into summer rates, meaning electricity used during weekday on-peak hours from 5 to 9 p.m. now costs 29 cents per kilowatt hour. That is up from 15 cents. Any other time, the rate stays at 7 cents.
The utility says the increase is meant to cover higher summer energy demand and the extra costs of producing that energy. Customers are being encouraged to run air conditioners earlier in the day and delay using other appliances. In other words, welcome to the future, where “energy-wise” apparently means planning dinner, laundry, and basic comfort around the grid’s mood swings.
The Bullet Point Brief
- The on-peak rate in Colorado Springs nearly doubled for summer evenings, jumping from 15 cents to 29 cents per kilowatt hour. Nearly doubled. But don’t worry, I’m sure the branding tested well.
- The higher rate applies weekdays from 5 to 9 p.m. from early June until September. You know, the exact time families come home, cook dinner, run laundry, cool the house, and attempt to live indoors like citizens of a developed nation.
- The utility says the increase is to cover increased summer demand and the extra costs associated with producing that energy. I get it. Their prices have gone up just like our prices have gone up. But doubled? That is not a rate adjustment. That is a mugging with a thermostat.
- The advice is to run the air conditioner earlier and delay other appliances. Very energy-wise. Nothing says modern prosperity like being told to pre-cool your house so the system does not faint during supper.
- Electricity does not have to be treated like some rare artifact guarded by monks. We know how to generate it. Abundantly. Reliably. Cleanly. But state mandates, bureaucracy, and environmental lobbyists keep throwing monkey wrenches into the machine, then acting shocked when regular people get the bill.
My Bottom Line
This is exactly why normal people do not trust energy policy anymore. They are told everything is about innovation, sustainability, resilience, and other words that look terrific on a conference banner. Then summer shows up, the rate nearly doubles during the hours people actually need power, and the official advice is basically, “Have you tried living around our failure?”
What is wise about reverting to the stone age in the height of a summer day? Families are not asking for luxury. They are asking to cool the house, cook a meal, wash clothes, and not have the power bill turn into a ransom note. That should not be an exotic demand in Colorado Springs.
And this is why I understand the hesitation around data centers. I believe we need them. They are part of the modern economy whether people want to admit it or not. But if this is what peak pricing looks like before huge new load users arrive, what happens after? “Energy-wise” becomes “everybody hold still while the grid takes a knee.”
So set guardrails. Demand assurances from power providers. Better yet, let large-load users generate their own power and work with utilities to make that generation dispatchable so it can benefit the community instead of just strain it. Why does nobody want to figure this out? My guess: too much bureaucracy, too many lobbyists, and too many people in charge who think the answer to every shortage is a new program with a friendly name.
The normie gets hosed. Again. That is the real headline.
Source: Colorado Public Radio
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