Re: “Time running out for Colorado’s utility ratepayer watchdog,” April 6 news story.
Your article draws attention to the danger of letting Colorado’s Office of Consumer Counsel (OCC) expire. Telecoms argue, wrongly, that because some of their work was deregulated last year, we consumers no longer need the OCC on our side. But this is exactly why the OCC should be more involved in telecom cases. We lost consumer protections in the recent wave of deregulation. We need the OCC to fight for those protections we still have. Further, the PUC has the power to re-regulate the telecoms after 2018, through a “claw-back” provision. Who would advocate for us in that discussion if not the OCC?
I think I speak for more than just myself when I call on state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg to act with all possible speed to preserve the OCC.
Karl Chwe,Denver
This letter was published in the April 10 edition.
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