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Tag: Xcel Energy

Xcel Energy’s Plans for 2026 Rate Hike Draws Pushback from Communities
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Xcel Energy’s Plans for 2026 Rate Hike Draws Pushback from Communities

By Claire Lavezzorio | Denver7 Denver7 is listening to the community after Xcel Energy announced proposed rate hikes. COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — Denver7 is listening to the community after Xcel Energy announced Friday it wants to increase electric rates in Colorado by nearly 10% in 2026. Commerce City resident Lucy Molina told Denver7 it's going to force some families to make difficult choices. "Do I pay my electric bill, or do I eat?" said Molina. Robert Kenney, President of Xcel Energy Colorado, told Denver7 Friday that the increase is to recover investments in safety and reliability, like transmission, distribution, and generating facilities the company has made over the past 3 years. The average residential customer would see their bill increase $9.94 per mont...
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Xcel Seeks One-Year Extension to Keep Comanche Coal Unit Running as Grid Pressures Rise
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Xcel Seeks One-Year Extension to Keep Comanche Coal Unit Running as Grid Pressures Rise

By Scott Weiser | Colorado Politics Colorado’s largest utility company has petitioned energy regulators to push back the retirement of a coal-fired, electrical generating unit located in the Southern part of the state from December 2025 to the end of 2026. The Polis administration is backing the petition. Comanche Unit 2 is one of three coal-fired units at the Pueblo-based Comanche Generating Station. In its petition, Xcel Energy cites as reason an extended outage at the adjacent Unit 3, surging peak demand and supply chain hurdles. The petition underscores admissions from both Xcel and state officials about a potential generating resource shortfall exacerbated by a failure at the Comanche Unit 3, taking it off-line for the next 11 months, and by delays in bringing new “rene...
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Colorado Moves to Enforce Major Utility Emissions Cuts Despite Cost Concerns
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Colorado Moves to Enforce Major Utility Emissions Cuts Despite Cost Concerns

By: Shannon Ogden | Denver7 The PUC will require utilities like Xcel Energy to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 41% by 2035. DENVER — Environmental groups are celebrating a win in Colorado after the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) agreed to tougher standards on greenhouse gas emissions from Colorado utilities like Xcel Energy. At a meeting Wednesday, commissioners decided to require utilities to reduce these pollutants by 41% by 2035. Sierra Club Colorado was one of the groups arguing for these higher reductions. "I think we should feel proud that we pushed them on this. I think we're really happy with the 41% because it keeps us moving," said Sarah Tresseder, energy organizer of Sierra Club Colorado.  In 2021, Colorado passed the first-in-the-nation "Clean Heat Law" r...
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Colorado’s clean-energy crusade looks a lot like Germany’s—and that should scare us
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Substack, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s clean-energy crusade looks a lot like Germany’s—and that should scare us

By Michael Hancock | Commentary, Michael Hancock’s Undercurrent A warning for Colorado before it repeats Europe’s green mistakes. Germany tried to save the planet — and ended up saving nothing, not even itself. The same ideology that shut down its nuclear plants, drove up energy prices, and gutted its industries is now being repackaged in Colorado under the banner of “climate justice.” The warnings are flashing red, but our leaders seem too busy chasing virtue to notice the cliff ahead. Germany once led the world in renewable energy. It also now leads it in self-inflicted economic decline. After spending hundreds of billions of euros to “go green,” the country that once symbolized industrial excellence now faces soaring energy prices, factory closures, and an exodus of jobs. ...
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Pueblo Fights Back as Colorado’s Coal Plants Close and Jobs Disappear
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Colorado Politics, Approved, Local

Pueblo Fights Back as Colorado’s Coal Plants Close and Jobs Disappear

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics As Colorado darts toward a future powered by “clean” energy, a battle is brewing in Pueblo, where coal closures, union jobs and lost tax revenue collide with a community demanding a solution as its power plants are a primary target for a shutdown. Between 2025 and 2031, six more coal-fired power plants in Colorado are scheduled to be shut down or converted to another energy source, such as natural gas. With more than 800 jobs to be affected, another three plants are on the list for future closures. The closures are raising alarm bells, notably for the unions that count the power plant workers as members. A group has put forward an action plan called the Colorado Energy Compact, calling for a “balanced and sustainable energy policy” and a...
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$640M Xcel settlement brings closure—and uncertainty for Marshall Fire survivors
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

$640M Xcel settlement brings closure—and uncertainty for Marshall Fire survivors

By Sarah Horbacewicz | CBS Colorado Survivors of the Marshall Fire are waiting to see their offer of the $640 million settlement from Xcel Energy announced on Wednesday. Jenn Hart in Louisville is one of the more than 4,000 plaintiffs in the suit. She says her home was torn down to the studs after smoke damaged her home. Now, family photos are some of the few remaining pieces of Hart's former home. Reflecting on those that were saved when they evacuated, and those that were left behind, she described an engagement photo, "It was sitting in this corner on a cabinet, and it wasn't blue before the fire," she said. Now, more than three years after the fire, she's settling back into her home and seeing a payout from Xcel.  "It's bittersweet, right? So it's not what we were h...
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Xcel reaches $640M agreement to resolve all Marshall fire claims
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denvergazette.com, Approved, Local

Xcel reaches $640M agreement to resolve all Marshall fire claims

By Michael Braithwaite | The Denver Gazette Xcel Energy reached an agreement in principle to settle all claims relating to the 2021 Marshall fire, the organization said in a statement Wednesday. The organization will pay north of $640 million to resolve all the pending litigation, about $350 million of which will be funded by its remaining insurance coverage, Xcel said. Individual agreements will still remain subject to final documentation and deliberation with individual plaintiffs. The December 2021 fire destroyed more than 1,000 businesses and homes in Louisville, Superior, and unincorporated Boulder County, taking two lives and forcing 37,000 people to evacuate. Despite the agreement, Xcel said its equipment did not cause or contribute to the fire and it does not admit any ...
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Western Slope Officials Push to Delay Shoshone Water Rights Decision
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State, Approved, The Colorado Sun

Western Slope Officials Push to Delay Shoshone Water Rights Decision

By: Shannon Mullane | The Colorado Sun The request for a delay comes days before the state planned to decide whether two powerful Colorado River water rights could be used to help the environment. DURANGO — Western Slope water officials are asking for more time to negotiate before the state decides whether influential Colorado River water rights can be used to help the environment. A state water agency, the Colorado Water Conservation Board, is scheduled to make its final ruling Thursday on the future usage of a pair of water rights tied to Shoshone Power Plant, owned by an Xcel Energy subsidiary called Public Service of Colorado. On Tuesday, the Xcel subsidiary and Colorado River District — the Western Slope water entity leading the effort to use the rights to help the environ...
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Xcel Energy to Sell Former Power Plant Water to Colorado Farmers
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Local, Approved, The Colorado Sun

Xcel Energy to Sell Former Power Plant Water to Colorado Farmers

By Jerd Smith | The Colorado Sun The deal, which could be worth more than $44 million, includes Colorado Springs Utilities and is expected to close early next year Xcel Energy will offer water it owns but no longer needs to farmers in the water-strapped Lower Arkansas River Valley, in an innovative deal advocates hope will help the struggling region regain control of vital water supplies and protect its agricultural economy. Under the preliminary terms of the proposal, valued at more than $44 million, Xcel will sell 12,500 acre-feet of water to a newly formed irrigation company, 70% of which will be owned by farmers and 30% of which will be owned by Colorado Springs Utilities. An acre-foot of water equals 326,000 gallons, enough to serve two to four urban households for one yea...
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Colorado’s unelected energy board moves to give Xcel control over your appliances
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s unelected energy board moves to give Xcel control over your appliances

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project, Substack Low energy, low carbon, and higher upfront cost energy codes are now complete I have written in the past about our state's model energy code.** Per the quote (with link left intact) coming from the link at bottom:"The Model Low Energy and Carbon Code, which is required by state law HB22-1362, becomes Colorado’s new minimum energy code on July 1, 2026. Any municipality or county that updates any of its building codes after that date must adopt the model code, or a code that will achieve greater energy efficiency and pollution reductions."That second sentence there is the operant one. Get ready to have this code forced upon your locality as soon as they update their building codes post 7/1/2026.I'll leave it to ...
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