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Xcel Urges Coloradans To Shift Power Use During Summer Peak Hours
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Xcel Urges Coloradans To Shift Power Use During Summer Peak Hours

By: Ethan Carlson | Denver7 Xcel Energy's "Energy Action Days" ask customers to reduce usage between 4 and 8 p.m. on hot days, but some customers say the timing is inconvenient. DENVER – Xcel Energy customers in Colorado may have noticed text messages recently asking them to reduce their energy use during certain hours of the day. The utility calls these "Energy Action Days" - requests for customers to cut back on energy consumption between 4 and 8 p.m. when temperatures climb above 90 degrees, along with a variety of other grid conditions. Customers who do not reduce their usage during those hours will pay more for their energy, as part of Xcel’s Time of Use pricing policy. Andrew Holder, Xcel Energy Colorado's director of community relations, ...
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Denver Ballot Measure Will Determine Xcel Partnership As Millions In Revenue Are At Stake
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Denver Ballot Measure Will Determine Xcel Partnership As Millions In Revenue Are At Stake

By: Deborah Grigsby | The Denver Gazette This November, Denver voters will decide whether to renew the city’s longstanding franchise agreement with Xcel Energy. Members of the Denver City Council approved on Monday sending a proposed 20-year franchise agreement with Xcel that would deliver more than $180 million a year in franchise fees, infrastructure relocation savings and other undergrounding funds to the ballot. The vote was 10-2 with Councilmembers Shontel Lewis and Sarah Parady holding the two dissenting votes. “Denver has negotiated the strongest energy partnership agreement in the history of Colorado, and importantly, the benefits of this agreement and of being a franchisee extend far beyond any of the individual listed improvements and accomplishments,”...
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Xcel says it has no affordability crisis. Its customers and regulatory filings tell another story.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Xcel says it has no affordability crisis. Its customers and regulatory filings tell another story.

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Every week, Carlos H. sits down with his bills and works out what his family can go without. Some weeks it is dinner. “I just opt out to say, hey, okay, maybe won’t be cooking up something tonight, so we can just make ends meet,” the Denver father said. Some weeks it is gas—a quarter tank instead of a full one, and the math of whether that gets him to the next payday. He has a 14-year-old daughter and a baby due in February. His electric bill runs $120 to $150 a month. A proposed Xcel settlement could push it higher. “We don’t have an affordability crisis,” Robert Kenney, president of Xcel Energy Colorado, told the House Energy and Environment Committee on April 23, arguing against a proposal to give regulators more power over how util...
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Utilities Push Record $9.2 Billion In New Rate Increases During Second Quarter
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, National

Utilities Push Record $9.2 Billion In New Rate Increases During Second Quarter

By Scott Weiser | The Denver Gazette Colorado had no requests last quarter Electric and gas utilities sought a record $9.2 billion in rate increases nationwide during the second quarter, according to a new analysis by the consumer advocacy organization PowerLines, as utilities continue seeking billions for grid upgrades, reliability improvements and growing electricity demand. The filings would affect more than 56 million customers and push this year’s total requested rate increases to $18.6 billion, the consumer advocacy group said. Colorado was largely absent from the report’s tally of second-quarter rate requests because Xcel Energy’s major electric rate case was already pending before the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. The utility originally so...
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PowerGab Examines the Cost of Energy Mandates as Xcel Seeks Massive Rate Hike
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

PowerGab Examines the Cost of Energy Mandates as Xcel Seeks Massive Rate Hike

By: Mike Krause | Complete Colorado In a recent episode of Independence Institute’s* PowerGab energy podcast, hosts Amy Cooke and Jake Fogleman look at Xcel Energy’s request for a massive electricity price hike in Colorado (originally $355 million, now pared down to roughly $245 million). The duo zero in on why utility bills keep rising, and how decisions made years ago are now hitting ratepayers hard. Cooke argues that rate hikes are “lagging indicators,” the result of layers of policy choices, regulatory approvals, and energy mandates dating back more than a decade. She points specifically to the Colorado Energy Plan and the decision to accelerate retirement of coal-fired power plants, with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) prioritizing emissions red...
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Colorado Seniors Feel Heat as Xcel Seeks Double-Digit Rate Increase
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Colorado Seniors Feel Heat as Xcel Seeks Double-Digit Rate Increase

By: Maggie Bryan | Denver7 Xcel Energy is proposing electric and gas rate increases that would raise the average customer's bill by about 10% as early as August. DENVER — Some Coloradans are facing tough decisions as they try to stay cool during this week's heat wave, especially those on fixed incomes. Jimmy Cano and his wife, who live in Aurora, received a free portable air conditioning unit Tuesday night thanks to local nonprofit Bright Leaf, an organization that provides food assistance and other resources for seniors in the City and County of Denver. "Usually right at this time, I would probably be sitting here dripping sweat," Cano said. He said the portable AC unit has been a game changer for them as their home does not have a central AC system. B...
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Denver Inflation Climbs To 5% As Fuel Prices Drive Costs Higher
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Denver Inflation Climbs To 5% As Fuel Prices Drive Costs Higher

By Bernadette Berdychowski | The Denver Gazette The Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metro area recorded a 5% rise in prices in the last year, according to federal data released Wednesday for the month of May from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the highest level seen since 2023.Denver is trending higher than the national annual average of 4.2%.Denver’s inflation was the second-highest among 12 metropolitan regions in the nation after Urban Hawaii in May, according to the BLS. The federal agency tracks inflation across 23 cities. Data from the three biggest cities — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — are released monthly. Meanwhile, the federal agency releases data from the rest of the cities like Denver every other month. A surge in prices following the pandemic pushed inflation t...
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Colorado Consumers Push Back Against Xcel Rate Hike Proposal
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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...
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Xcel Customers Face Largest Electric Rate Hike In Colorado History
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Xcel Customers Face Largest Electric Rate Hike In Colorado History

By Mark Jaffe | The Colorado Sun The $225 million increase would raise the average residential bill by $6.13, but the proposed rate needs PUC approval and consumer advocates oppose it. Xcel Energy, its corporate customers and unions are at odds with consumer advocates over a proposed settlement that would grant the utility the largest electric rate increase ever — $225 million. The proposed agreement between Xcel Energy and parties including the Colorado Public Utilities Commission staff, the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers, Walmart and Climax Molybdenum would raise the average household bill by $6.13 to $110.81 a month — a nearly 6% increase. Colorado Energy Consumers, which represents large industrial and commercial customers, also signed on to...
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Rural Colorado Communities Back Iran Strategy Even As Gas Prices Climb
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Pikes Peak Courier, Approved, State

Rural Colorado Communities Back Iran Strategy Even As Gas Prices Climb

By Reuters | Pike's Peak Courier WIGGINS, Colo. • Perched behind the cash register at Stubs liquor store, Amy Van Duyn gazed out the window at a red-and-green gasoline price sign, which she said seemed to tick up daily. The price was $4.34 per gallon — about 50% higher than it was in these parts when President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year. “I used to fill my tank for $36,” said Van Duyn, 42. “Now $36 gets me half a tank.” Her co-worker Tonyah Bruyette said when it’s time to buy groceries, she’s left wondering where all her money went: “We’re putting it in the tank rather than on our table.” Like most people in and around Wiggins, a farming town of 1,400 people in northeast Colorado, Van Duyn and Bruyette remain ardent supporters of t...
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