Xcel Reports $903 Million Colorado Profit While Seeking Higher Electric And Gas Rates

By Mark Jaffe | The Colorado Sun

The proposed gas rate increase would raise gas customers’ bills by an average $7.59 to $74.41 a month to pay for safety improvements, meet rising operating and maintenance costs and provide investor returns.

The electricity rate increase Xcel Energy is seeking would raise bills about 10% to $110 a month to recover infrastructure investments, operating costs and lost revenue sources.

“Enough is enough. Coloradans are being crushed under the weight of gas and power bills that get bigger every year,” Sarah Tresedder, senior climate and energy organizer for the Sierra Club, said in a statement. “The PUC needs to put a stop to the bleeding.”

The company said that the average Colorado residential customer’s electric bills are 39% lower than the national average. That average, however, includes some very high-cost states such as Massachusetts, with an average charge of 30 cents a kilowatt-hour, California at nearly 35 cents a kilowatt-hour and almost 42 cents in Hawaii, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

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