Big Colorado utility bills are because of two things state regulators can’t control: Weather and gas prices
State utilities regulators called a hearing to discuss how — and if they can — lessen impacts of frigid weather and pressure in the natural gas market
Colorado Sun
The spiking energy bills affecting many Coloradans are caused by colder weather and higher gas prices — factors over which neither regulators nor utilities have control, the Colorado Public Utility Commission reported Wednesday.
Xcel Energy utility bills were on average 52%, or $87, higher in December than they were a year earlier, although some consumers saw their bills double, PUC Chief Economist Erin O’Neill told commissioners in a briefing.
Commissioner John Gavan said he was struck by the magnitude of the costs and the financial pressure they are exerting on Coloradans.
“I can’t remember seeing this level of pain in the consumer community since the 1970s and the gas crisis, which I’m old enough to remember,” he said. “So I take this very seriously.”
The rising utility bills follow the approval by the commission of six electricity and gas rate hikes, several allowing for increases due to rising natural gas prices, that have spurred a near-record number of low-income consumers to seek financial aid to pay their bills.
Read more at ColoradoSun.com.
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