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Tag: Wildfire Mitigation

Colorado’s July Laws Reshape Firearm Sales and Wildfire Insurance Rules
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kdvr.com, Approved, State

Colorado’s July Laws Reshape Firearm Sales and Wildfire Insurance Rules

By Maddie Rhodes | KDVR DENVER (KDVR) — Several Colorado laws are set to go into effect starting in July. While Colorado laws get passed all the time, the effective date is sometimes delayed to make sure people have time to comply with the law before there are penalties. Usually, several laws go into effect in January at the start of the year and in July, just past the halfway point of the year. In January, laws surrounding gun show requirements and deceptive pricing practices went into effect. Now, laws including the sale of firearm ammunition and property insurance policies are going into effect on July 1. Colorado laws going into effect Here are some of the laws going into effect: New requirements for sale of firearm ammunition House...
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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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Colorado PUC Moves to Regulate Planned Power Shutoffs After Xcel Outages
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado PUC Moves to Regulate Planned Power Shutoffs After Xcel Outages

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado After four Xcel power shutoffs in the past nine months, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission is taking action. The director of the PUC told state lawmakers the regulatory agency is creating rules to help mitigate the impact of "Public Safety Power Shutoffs," which are meant to reduce the risk of a wildfire in high wind events. The news came during a hearing by the Colorado House and Senate energy committees, where lawmakers grilled the president of Xcel, Robert Kenney. Republic state Sen. Byron Pelton, who represents Morgan County, told Kenney, when power is cut to feed lots in rural Colorado, cattle lose access to water. Democratic state Sen. Tammy Story, who represents Jefferson County, says the shutoffs have h...
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State Regulators Confront Fallout From Xcel’s Wildfire Power Shutdowns
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

State Regulators Confront Fallout From Xcel’s Wildfire Power Shutdowns

By Mark Jaffe | The Colorado Sun State utilities regulators collected testimony from 4,000 businesses, households with lifesaving medical equipment and the merely annoyed as they form rules for public safety power shut-offs. In December, Rainbow Schultz was preparing for Xcel Energy’s announced shutdown of power lines to cope with high winds since her restaurant — the Jamestown Mercantile — had lost $8,000 in the utility’s safety shut-off eight months earlier. Schultz was already reducing her supplies when she was told by Xcel Energy her town of 230 in western Boulder County would not be in the shut-off area and so she stocked up as usual.  Still when the 112-mile-per-hour gust of wind came Dec. 18, Schultz found herself in the dark wi...
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Boulder City Council Slams Xcel Over Handling of Public Safety Power Shutoffs
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

Boulder City Council Slams Xcel Over Handling of Public Safety Power Shutoffs

By: Óscar Contreras | Denver7 "I thought the power shut offs were outrageous," said Boulder Mayor Pro Tem Tara Winer. BOULDER, Colo. — At its meeting Thursday evening, Boulder City Council approved sending a letter to Xcel Energy regarding "major concerns" it has with their partnership. For weeks, Boulder's City Council has discussed the three-page letter, which reviews "whether the expectations set forth in the Franchise are being met, and whether we are realizing the vision set forth by the companion Energy Partnership Agreement." In the letter, Boulder leaders address several areas they are concerned with when it comes to Xcel. The first is "that Xcel failed to meet both the 2022 and 2024 emission milestones." The second area of concern deals ...
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Colorado Residents Push Back After Xcel Power Shutoffs Disrupt Thousands
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Residents Push Back After Xcel Power Shutoffs Disrupt Thousands

By Brian Maass | CBS Colorado More than 4,000 Coloradans have responded to a state survey regarding Xcel Energy's Public Safety Power Shutoffs last month during extreme wind events and another 160 have provided written feedback to the state's Public Utilities Commission. Most expressed dissatisfaction with Xcel's approach on Dec. 17 and Dec. 19, believing the utility overreacted, and many complained about what they perceive as Xcel's poor or confusing communication around the events. "It was the single most stressful event of my life," wrote one commenter on the commission's website, who headlined their post by saying, "there has to be a better way." Another commented that the PSPS events are "creating unreasonable and unnecessary hardship for resid...
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Colorado Law Shields Xcel From Most Legal Claims Over Power Outages
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Law Shields Xcel From Most Legal Claims Over Power Outages

By Scott Weiser | The Denver Gazette Xcel Energy customers who lost refrigerated or frozen goods during the utility’s public safety power shutoffs face steep hurdles in recovering damages through lawsuits, given the limits on liabilities approved by state regulators. Colorado law and utility rate rules issued by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, which regulates commercial energy companies, limit liability for service interruptions, even when outages result from proactive de-energization to prevent wildfires. Xcel Energy’s rate rules, issued by the PUC and largely upheld by Colorado courts, contain clauses that shield the utility from claims for power interruptions. Jack Luellen, senior counsel at Buchalter, said these rules mean the company is not liable...
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What Xcel promised regulators and what customers were told before Dec. 17 shutoff warnings
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

What Xcel promised regulators and what customers were told before Dec. 17 shutoff warnings

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Coloradans are being asked to prepare for the chance of a planned outage on Dec. 17. The company’s public alerts tell people to watch the map. The filings tell a fuller story about thresholds, timelines and who is supposed to be in the loop when a shutoff is on the table. That framework was not created overnight. It was built through years of filings with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and formally approved in 2025. As of Dec. 16, the documents already on record allow for a clearer picture of what Xcel committed to regulators and what customers were actually told as the wind event approached. Dec. 17 was not an improvisation Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) are not ad hoc emergency decisions. They are a s...
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Colorado Legislature Opens Special Session With Taxes and Spending Bills
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State, Approved, The Denver Gazette

Colorado Legislature Opens Special Session With Taxes and Spending Bills

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette Colorado legislators began to advance proposals dealing with an $800 million budget shortfall on Thursday, just hours after the legislature officially re-convened to deal with the revenue shortfall.  They started with a hearing on Senate Bill 1, which adds a requirement to the existing state law that outlines the governor's authority to make spending reductions in case of a significant drop in revenue. Under SB 1, Gov. Jared Polis would be required to develop a plan and present it to the Joint Budget Committee before it goes into effect. Lawmakers and the Polis administration have indicated that budget cuts should be put into place by Sept. 1 in order to spread out any reductions over 10 months, instead of waiting until next Februa...
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