Human-caused global warming concerns, and a monopolized public utility, have made Pueblo a cautionary tale in the war on coal.

Senate Bill 105, working through the Legislature with bipartisan support, provides a gesture of support for households and businesses getting smashed by monopolized, for-profit, public utility greed.

As occasionally explained here, Colorado’s aggressive clean power mandates force utility corporations to increase ratios of solar, wind and gas electrical generation. The costs are passed directly to ratepayers. The fine print in rate hike proposals often contains goodies for executives.

Black Hills has spared no expense in complying with mandates. The company has increased Pueblo’s base electric rate by 376 percent, from $136 million to $511 million, in just eight years. The company consistently enjoys some of the highest profit margins in corporate America.

Black Hills has enacted rate hikes on customers to pay for its new gas-fired generation unit at the Pueblo Airport Generating Station. The facility replaces a coal-fired plant in Cañon City, which was closed to comply with Colorado’s Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act. At a hearing of the Public Utilities Commission in November, commissioners admonished Black Hills for not choosing a less expensive option.

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