The Colorado Public Utilities Commission on Thursday approved an agreement with Xcel Energy allowing the company to raise electricity rates by $114 million over three years.
The increase will raise the typical residential bill by a total of about $3.70 a month, or about 5.5 percent.
In announcing the agreement, the PUC said the plan will “provide significant rate savings to customers as well as rate predictability over the length of the agreement.”
“The settlement provides all Coloradans with reasonable rate increases for vital services and provides stability and predictability for the next three years, which is important to businesses and consumers,” PUC chairman Joshua Epel said. “When compared to the magnitude of (the) rate increase that could have occurred, it is a significant savings.”
Residential customers will see an increase on average of $1.68 a month in 2012, $1.29 a month in 2013, and $0.73 a month in 2014, for a total of $3.70 a month, or 5.5 percent, during the three-year period, said the PUC.
Xcel, the state’s largest utility, had originally sought a $142 million increase for 2012. Xcel faced stiff opposition from state regulators, businesses and consumers, and was unable to get an interim rate increase from the commission.
The utilities commission staff recommended Xcel receive a $7.3 million hike. The state Office of Consumer Counsel, representing residential and small-business customers, suggested $9.4 million.
As part of the $114 million settlement, reached earlier this month, Xcel agreed to forgo its right to pass construction costs on to ratepayers for new gas-fired power plants. But at the end of the three-year agreement, that $69 million cost will slowly go into the rates.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
