Pueblo area residents will have a rare opportunity to speak out at a local hearing next Thursday on Black Hills Energy’s request for a rate adjustment to their monthly electricity bills. Harris Adams, senior hearing judge for the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, will conduct the hearing from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday in the 4-H auditorium at the Colorado State Fairgrounds.

The PUC normally doesn’t schedule such hearings outside the Denver metro area, although Pueblo’s increasing complaints about multiple Black Hills rate hikes in recent years have led to three PUC three hearings in Pueblo, held either by the three commissioners or by a law judge.

All of the local hearings have been heavily attended by local customers opposed to Black Hills rates and disconnect policies.

Read more at The Pueblo Chieftain.