Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

Tag: Comanche 3

Colorado Consumers Push Back Against Xcel Rate Hike Proposal
No Comments
CPR News, Approved, State

Colorado Consumers Push Back Against Xcel Rate Hike Proposal

By: Ishan Thakore | CPR News Xcel Energy’s proposed deal to raise average residential energy bills by nearly 6% is running into a wall of opposition from Colorado consumer and environmental groups.  The proposed residential rate increase would be among the largest ever in the state, according to the Colorado Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate (UCA), which advocates for customers and is opposed to the deal. In November, the state’s largest utility petitioned state regulators at the Public Utilities Commission to let it increase how much it charges for electricity. Xcel hadn’t requested a major price hike to its customer base rates since 2022. Last year, the company said it needed to recoup around $356 million it spent to build new renewab...
Read More
Colorado Bill Could Lock Xcel Customers Into Decades Of Power Plant Costs
No Comments
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Bill Could Lock Xcel Customers Into Decades Of Power Plant Costs

By Scott Weiser | The Denver Gazette State regulators would gain expanded power to order Xcel Energy to finance major costs for its chronically troubled Comanche 3 coal plant through bonds backed by a decades-long charge on every customer’s monthly electric bill. House Bill 26-1326, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission sunset bill that cleared its first committee on April 23, would let the PUC direct investor-owned utilities to use securitization under 2019’s Colorado Energy Impact Bond Act. The measure continues the PUC through 2037 while expanding its authority beyond voluntary utility applications. Securitization allows a utility to issue bonds backed by a decades-long charge on ratepayer bills. The charge stays on every bill, with periodic adjustments, only unt...
Read More
Xcel’s costly coal exit: Public interest group warns plan could stick consumers with the tab
No Comments
Westword, Approved, State

Xcel’s costly coal exit: Public interest group warns plan could stick consumers with the tab

By Catie Cheshire | Westword One consumer protection group is calling for the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to shrink Xce's giant proposal. As Xcel Energy works to decommission coal plants across Colorado, one proposal is catching heat. Watchdog organization Colorado Public Interest Research Group believes Xcel’s proposal to replace the Comanche 3 coal plant in Pueblo will result in unnecessary costs to customers. The group's executive director Danny Katz, says the proposal is too big for southern Colorado as his organization calls on the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to pare back the proposal. According to Xcel’s filings with the PUC, the utility wants to replace energy production from Comanche 3’s coal units with a mix of wind, solar and natu...
Read More