The Colorado Public Utilities Commission scheduled two public listening sessions for consumers about Xcel Energy’s request for $310 million that the company says will raise monthly electrical rates. Xcel officials said the increase is necessary to pay for transmission infrastructure repairs and replacements, and the first phase of its $1.7-to-$2 billion Power Pathway Project.

Critics of Colorado’s rapid transition to renewable energy generating sources argue that current ratepayers will bear the burden of paying to build new infrastructure that may not lower energy bills for decades.

Supporters, however, argue it is necessary to transition quickly into a carbon-free society for the good of the environment and people’s health.

Under consideration for the public listening sessions is Xcel’s 2022 request for revisions to its tariffs to cover the cost of the improvements that Xcel said will add an average of $7.33 (8.2%) to residential customers’ bills and $10.16 (7.8%) for small commercial customers.

As a result of huge spikes in energy costs in late 2022, the Colorado General Assembly held a series of committee hearings on energy costs during the 2023 legislative session.

During the hearings committee chair Sen. Steven Fenberg, D-Boulder, said: “Many of these investments are necessary to ensure that we continue to have safe and reliable energy for our daily needs that we have all come to rely on, but some of these projects may need a more discerning eye to evaluate whether they’re necessary, whether there may be more cost effective ways to meet energy demands, whether the interests most being looked out for are that of utility companies or that of the everyday Coloradan.”

The hearings resulted in the General Assembly passing, and the Governor signing SB23-291, which increases PUC regulatory authority over public electric utilities. But because the law does not take effect for 90 days from its signing, May 11, 2023, it will have no effect on the current PUC proceeding.

Xcel received approval from the Colorado Public Utilities Commission last year to build 560-to-650 miles of new high-voltage transmission lines and 3-or-4 new substations in eastern and southeastern Colorado to deliver electricity from widely dispersed wind and solar installations to the electrical grid.

Xcel said the project will provide a “backbone network transmission system in eastern Colorado” that would significantly improve the reliability of the state’s transmission system, as well as provide transmission capacity for 3,000-to-3,500 MW of new electric generation.

Colorado’s biggest utility company said it will need to add 2,300 MW of utility-scale wind turbines, 1,600 MW of utility-scale solar and 400 MW of energy storage to meet Gov. Jared Polis’ Greenhouse Gas Reduction Roadmap goal of 100% renewable energy by 2050 and to reach an 80% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from 2005 levels by 2030.

Xcel is reversing the customary practice of applying for permission to build new power lines after requests for new generating plants have been approved. The project, the company said, is needed before the renewable energy generation has been approved by the PUC because new generation sources could be ready to input power before the electrical grid is completed.

Company officials have said load demand forecasting shows that the existing system is “full,” and it can no longer reliably serve new generation sources.

Xcel’s own online Hosting Capacity Map Overview shows that the company’s ability to accept new generation inputs is stressed.

The PUC said in its decision approving the project that it is “keenly aware that ratepayers will be impacted by the substantial costs associated with the project and we are reminded of our statutory duty to ensure safe and reliable utility service … and reasonable rates.”

Last June, Robert Kenney, president of Xcel Energy-Colorado said the company is “thrilled to be able to move forward with an important project that will deliver renewable, clean energy to the most populated areas of the state while supporting our rural communities.”

The listening sessions are scheduled for:

• 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, May 31
• 4-6 p.m. Tuesday, July 11

Here is the press release with links to the Zoom signup pages. The release is in both English and Spanish.