Getting your player ready...
DENVER—Xcel Energy expects to turn off power to 47,000 Colorado customers in the second and third quarters this year because they failed to pay their bill on time.
That number is a 140 percent increase compared to the same period in 2005 when the utility shut off power to 19,537 customers. The increase comes as Xcel rates have increased the last six months to cover the cost of coal and natural gas.
Skip Arnold, executive director of Energy Outreach Colorado, says the bills are putting on a strain on low-income families.
The Minneapolis company has about 1.6 million customers in Colorado. It is the largest electric and natural-gas utility in the state.
