The agency represents the public, particularly residential and small-businesses customers, in utility proceedings and opposes the proposal.

The three-member , which will consider the agreement, has scheduled a hearing by Zoom and will take comments from the public on the rate increase

Xcel, Colorado’s largest electric provider, originally asked the PUC to approve an an increase in annual revenue of $355 million, which would have boosted the average residential bill  by nearly 10% a month.

The proposed settlement negotiated with the PUC staff and others would raise Xcel’s base rate by $225 million in yearly revenue. The base rate is the investments on which a utility is allowed to earn a regulated rate of return.

“The agreed-upon amount of about $225 million is an amount that is $43 million greater than the next highest net base rate increase of $182 million from the 2021 electric rate case,” Cory Skluzak, a rate/financial analyst with the UCA said in testimony submitted to the PUC.

The “historic high rate increase” comes amid serious affordability and other concerns with Xcel, Skluzak said.

Under the agreement, monthly residential bills would rise by 5.86%, or $6.13, to $110.81, Xcel said. The average small business would see its monthly bill rise by 5.59%, or $8.90, to $168.03.

The UCA can’t sign onto an agreement that would enact the largest utility rate increase in state history, said Joseph Pereira, director of the agency.

“You have seen all over within the proceeding, customers complain about the (company’s) profits and the lowering customer service standard from the company,” Pereira said.

The PUC staff released of the rising number of complaints from the public about Xcel’s customer service. The report said complaints per 1,000 people shot up 227% between 2002 and 2024.

“Focusing on the size of the proposed increase alone does not provide a complete or accurate picture for customers,” Xcel spokeswoman Sydney Isenberg said.

Xcel has spent more than $4 billion since 2022, the company’s last electric rate case, and completed a significant amount of work to meet customers’ growing needs, Isenberg said. The investments include replacing 17,771 wood poles; 406 new transmission circuit miles; 775 megawatts of new generation interconnected to transmission; and 50 new distribution feeders.

Xcel Energy’s bills in Colorado continue to fall below the national average for electric rates, Isenberg added.

While acknowledging that Xcel’s rates are lower than the national average, the PUC staff has noted that the utility plans to spend about $22 billion in Colorado through 2029. Rising costs are top of mind, the staff has said.

The UCA has criticized Xcel Energy for what it says is a piling on of rate increases over the past few years. In addition to the electric rate increase, the PUC is weighing the company’s proposed $190 million increase in annual revenue for its natural gas service.

Xcel has about 1.6 million electricity customers and 1.5 million natural gas customers in Colorado, with significant overlap between the two groups.

“Ultimately, customers are getting hit from all directions, and electric and gas are the first bill they pay. That puts pressure on everything else,” Pereira said.

which advocates for people 50 and older, , which provides help to low-income utility customers, and the city of Boulder have joined UCA in opposing the proposed settlement.

AARP Director Sara Schueneman said the cost of housing and utilities top her members’ concerns. Even if Xcel’s electric rates are below the national average, increases are significant, she said.

“The other challenge I think we face is that the rate increases come year after year,” Schueneman said.

The proposed settlement includes components that Schueneman likes, such as the plan to direct $10 million of Xcel’s earnings to programs helping customers with electricity costs.

Besides the PUC staff, Colorado Energy Consumers, a group of large companies and industrial customers, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union 111, are among those supporting the agreement.

The agreement strikes a reasonable balance between Xcel’s need to recover costs and concerns voiced by the other parties during the negotiations, Erin O’Neill, the PUC’s deputy director of fixed utilities, said in testimony filed with the commission.

Opponents’ arguments, however, go beyond the $225 million increase to the details of financing. They’re arguing for the reduction of Xcel’s return on equity, or the rate of profit an investor-owned utility is authorized to earn on the equity portion of its capital investments.

Xcel wanted a return of 9.8%, while the settlement proposes 9.3%, the current level. The UCA and the city of Boulder think the return should be even lower.

The UCA also supports requiring Xcel to use more debt and less of its equity to pay for its assets and capital infrastructure.

“Debt is always cheaper than equity and given the company’s future investment, it makes sense to have larger proportions of debt to fund the transition,” Pereira said.

Tapping more of the equity “delivers for shareholders,” Pereira said.

The UCA and others opposing the settlement are urging the PUC to reject allowing Xcel to recoup $83.3 million over 15 years for the outstanding cost of old electric meters replaced by new, “smart” meters.

“Now the customers are paying for their new smart meters and they’re paying for old meters as well. We don’t think that’s fair,” Pereira said.

The Denver Post Editorial Board met with all four Democrats running for Colorado Attorney General in the June primary and quickly narrowed the field down to the two strongest candidates – Hetal Doshi and Michael Dougherty.

David Seligman, an employment law specialist who heads the non-profit Towards Justice, has a fierce record of holding corporations accountable, and Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold is the only candidate to have actually run a state-wide agency. But Doshi and Dougherty have checked far more experience boxes during their legal careers and were inspiring candidates, saying and doing all the right things.

Doshi has a brilliant legal mind, and her work for both the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Colorado and at the U.S. Department of Justice shows evidence of competence and hard work.

Ultimately, the board was swayed by the impact of Dougherty’s public work in Colorado. We can imagine Dougherty leading the state’s largest law firm because we have seen him handle three unbelievable tragedies in Boulder County and lead the community through to the other side of the horror. We see Dougherty as a candidate who will be out in the community for four years working on the legal issues — water, housing, employment, federal overreach, corporate conglomeration — that affect us all, rather than sitting behind a desk waiting for lawbreakers to come to him.

Dougherty was appointed by Gov. John Hickenlooper to be district attorney in the 20th Judicial District in  2018, and in 2021, a disturbed man killed 10 people at the Boulder King Soopers. For three and a half years, Dougherty deftly handled the case, guiding the public through a frustrating competency system and finally a trial that ended with life in prison without the possibility of parole.

That same year, the Marshall Fire killed two people, destroyed 1,000 homes and caused almost a $1 billion worth of damage. Dougherty led the criminal investigation that found two sources for the fire – an old fire that had been insufficiently smothered and Xcel power lines. Dougherty declined to file negligence charges in the case, but his findings led to civil settlements with Xcel Energy.

Almost exactly a year ago, Boulder suffered again at the hands of evil. Mohamed Soliman attacked Jewish protesters, setting 13 people on fire and killing an 82-year-old woman who had marched down Pearl Street for the release of Israeli hostages. Dougherty was there for the victims and the Jewish community, and after a guilty plea  got a life sentence for Soliman.

The community in Boulder County has been in good hands through strife and trauma. Now we hope voters will trust Dougherty with the state attorney general’s office.

“We face a lawless Trump administration where the role of the attorney general has never been more important. And the next attorney general is going to inherit an incredibly critical responsibility in helping lead Colorado and protect Colorado against the Trump administration,” Dougherty said. “Having strong bipartisan support at a time where you didn’t hear those words very often to me speaks to the desire people have to have a leader with integrity who has a proven track record of fighting for what����ap right and doing justice without fear and without favor.”

Like the other three candidates, Dougherty has gaps in his legal career that he must fill. Dougherty has predominantly spent his time in criminal prosecutions, but he did have a stint with the Colorado Attorney General’s Office in 2010 when he first moved to Colorado. There, he led the criminal justice section for about three years.

We are endorsing Dougherty despite his lack of experience in civil law because we trust that he can adjust his focus to enforcing Colorado’s civil laws and defending against constitutional challenges. He showed this skill when he worked with Attorney General Phil Weiser to get a consumer protection settlement from a large landlord abusing tenants with junk fees.

“Before I launched the campaign, the top priority for me was getting up to speed on water. I’m the only candidate in the race who ever talks about water, and outside the metro area it����ap the first question I’m asked,” Dougherty said. “I’m really passionate about this.”

And when it comes to environmental law, Dougherty notes that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has failed the communities around Suncor.

“The communities of color around Suncor have been contaminated for years,” he said. “A $2 million fine in a year where Suncor made $2 billion in the quarter. To me, that was where the state should have stepped up and put the interests of the people over the interests of profit.”

As the state’s attorney, Dougherty can enforce some environmental laws in civil and sometimes criminal court.

We believe Dougherty will be an independent candidate who stands up for Coloradans when it matters most, whether it����ap enforcing antitrust and labor laws or going after financial crimes and fraud or, as he said at the very start of our interview, pushing back against a lawless president intent on hurting Coloradans.

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For more than a year, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has withheld $40 million awarded to the for the purchase of the water rights attached to Xcel Energy’s aging Shoshone Power Plant in Glenwood Canyon. The release of the federal funding brings the total amount secured for the purchase to $97 million — just shy of the $99 million needed for the project.

For years, the river district — a taxpayer-funded agency based in Glenwood Springs that works to protect Western Slope water — has worked to purchase the rights from the utility. Its leaders want to ensure that, even in dry years, the billions of gallons of water the rights command continue to flow west through the canyon and to the communities, wildlife habitats and farms downstream.

The district and other Western Slope entities feared the certainty of the flows would be threatened if another purchaser — like a Front Range utility — were able to snag the rights first.

The purchase is a “once-in-a-generation” investment in securing Western Slope water supplies, said Andy Mueller, the general manager of the Colorado River District, in a news release Friday. The federal dollars will add to the $20 million contributed by the Colorado Water Conservation Board and the $37 million raised by the district from Western Slope governments, organizations and irrigators.

“This award is a major breakthrough in our coalition’s effort to permanently secure historic flows on the Colorado River,” he said.

The Bureau of Reclamation in January 2025 — during the final days of the Biden administration — awarded the money to the Colorado River District as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. After taking office, President Donald Trump froze much of the funding allocated under the Biden-era act.

Members of Colorado’s federal delegation from both sides of the aisle pushed the Trump administration to release the money. Mueller thanked Republican Rep. Jeff Hurd, who represents much of the Western Slope, as well as Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse, Sen. Michael Bennet and Sen. John Hickenlooper for their work advocating for the funding.

“This is a major step forward for Western Colorado and an important step toward protecting one of the most critical water resources in our region,” Hurd said in a news release Friday announcing the release of the funding. “The Shoshone water rights are foundational to the long-term health of the Colorado River system and essential to the farmers, ranchers, municipalities, and communities that depend on reliable water supplies.”

The federal funding brings the Shoshone water rights deal — originally inked in 2023 — one step closer to completion. Xcel Energy still needs approval for the sale from Colorado’s public utility regulators, and the river district must go through the state’s water court process.

The Trump administration in already-awarded Inflation Reduction Act funding for four other water projects related to the shrinking and overallocated Colorado River.

Still yet to be funded are nine more projects previously awarded a combined $52 million from the act, according to Hickenlooper’s office.

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission staff and the Colorado Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate have recommended approving only half or less of the increase requested by Xcel. The PUC has scheduled meetings and to hear from the public.

Xcel Energy, the state’s largest electricity utility, has said the rate increase is aimed at recovering the costs of investments the company has made since its last rate increase in 2023. The company said the average residential bill would go up by nearly 10% a month.

But the PUC staff said if the full increase is allowed, customers’ bills will have risen by 33.1% in three years. Bills are approximately 23% higher since 2023 and 10% would be added if Xcel’s rate request is approved, O’Neill said.

The staff attributes the sharp jump largely to riders, or costs added to bills after the general rate is authorized.

Some riders are the result of settlements with the utility and some are approved by the legislature so Xcel can pay for improvements or projects. The charges sometimes expire after costs are recovered. Many times the riders have a long life.

“Just because the rider is created doesn’t mean it will live forever. But most riders do,” said Erin O’Neill, the PUC’s deputy director of fixed utilities.

There are currently 11 riders on electric bills. Three are assessed using a percentage of the total revenue, which would boost Xcel’s requested rate by about $11 million to $367 million, O’Neill said.

The uses for the add-on charges cover a broad range: new transmission and distribution infrastructure; wildfire mitigation; the costs of moving to cleaner energy sources; modernizing the grid; electrifying transportation; and fuel costs.

The number of riders over the past few years has gone up, O’Neill said. The riders allow utilities to be paid as they incur the costs. The PUC staff prefers to see the receipts first, do the math and then reimburse the company, O’Neill said.

“This is needed infrastructure that we need to make our system more resilient and work better,” O’Neill said.

But the PUC staff and the consumer advocate’s office are recommending that regulators authorize lower rates of return that Xcel can collect on its investments and different financing mechanisms that will mean lower rates for customers.

The PUC staff’s analysis of the rate increase is correct if the full request is approved, Xcel spokeswoman Sydney Isenberg said in an email.

“If enacted fully, the 33% increase would be based on 2023 rates and is reflective of the significant investments we’ve made to the electric system over the past three years,” she added.

Colorado residential electric bills are 39% below the national average, according to Xcel. Even after the proposed increase, the average Colorado household would spend about 1.27% of its income on electric service, almost half the national average, Isenberg said.

The Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate has been vocal about what it criticizes as a “pancaking,” or piling on, of rate increases. In January, Xcel filed a request for a yearly increase of $190 million in revenue for its natural gas services.

Cory Skluzak, a rate and financial analyst with the consumer advocate’s office, said in a filing with the PUC that nearly 73% of Xcel’s residential electric customers and 41% of small business electric customers also get natural gas from the company.

“The company has taken a very aggressive approach to maximizing the benefit for shareholders. So, you see the company on a spending spree,” said Joseph Pereira, director of the consumer advocate’s office.

The consumer advocate has recommended that the PUC approve a rate increase of $138 million. In 2023, Xcel Energy sought a $312 million yearly increase in revenue. The PUC cut the request to about $97 million.

Pereira was critical of the increase in riders on Xcel bills.

“When we collect costs through rates, the company is fixed on the revenues that they can collect in that year. It forces them to make fiscally responsible decisions,” Pereira said.

Rate cases generally take months. The PUC makes a decision after testimony from the staff, the company, interest groups and after getting feedback from local governments and the public.

O’Neill of the PUC said while other parts of the country are experiencing higher electric bills because of the expansion of energy-intensive data centers, those aren’t a factor in Colorado at this point. Xcel has proposed rates intended to prevent residential and small-business customers from bearing the brunt of supplying the large computing facilities if more are built in the state.

The PUC understands that investments are needed for new transmission infrastructure, tools to reduce the risk of wildfires caused by the electric system and improved distribution, O’Neill said.

“And we need a healthy, financially stable utility. We also need affordability and reliability and we try to make sure that we’re always balancing those things.”

As of 9 a.m., 55,117 Xcel Energy customers were dark, according to . That number had dropped to 29,786 by 3:15 p.m. as Xcel crews worked to restore power.

The outages include roughly 1,700 customers in Denver, 2,500 customers in Adams County, 3,500 customers in Arapahoe County, 15,000 customers in Jefferson County. Large outages in Broomfield and Boulder counties had been mostly resolved by Wednesday afternoon.

Estimated restoration times were not immediately available Wednesday morning, and it’s unclear when most of the homes and businesses lost power. The handful of outages that listed the time power went out were reported as early as 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and as late as 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.

“Our crews are out repairing damage, focusing first on repairs that will restore power for the largest number of customers,” . “We appreciate your patience as work continues in hazardous conditions with more snow expected this morning.”

“The outage has been reported. Please continue to check back for additional updates regarding the restoration progress,” most entries on Xcel’s outage map stated.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Forecast models show a good chance of 5 to 8 inches over most of the Interstate 25 corridor and up to a foot closer to the foothills and the Palmer Divide, forecasters said Tuesday.

While snowy roads will cause headaches for commuters on Wednesday morning, tree damage will likely have a bigger impact, according to the agency.

Just 3 to 5 inches of wet snow is enough to break small tree limbs, while 8 inches can cause significant damage to large trees and up to a foot “could result in widespread/nearly catastrophic tree damage,” forecasters said.

plans to place crews on standby to respond to and repair any outages caused by the spring snowstorm, according to utility officials.

“If you see a downed or sagging power line, stay away,” Xcel officials said. “Never touch or move a downed power line; instead, leave the area and report it immediately by calling 1-800-895-1999.”

The storm is on track to be one of Denver’s largest May snowstorms on record, , but it won’t be enough to reverse the drought.

As of Tuesday evening, from the weather service included:

• 1 inch in Brush and Fort Morgan, with up to 3 inches possible
• 6 inches in Aurora, Arvada, Brighton, Commerce City, Denver, Littleton and Parker, with up to 8 inches possible
• 7 inches in Centennial, Broomfield, Highlands Ranch and Lakewood, with up to 8 inches possible
• 7 inches in Winter Park, with up to 14 inches possible
• 8 inches in Fort Collins, Monument Hill and Roxborough Park, with up to 10 inches possible
• 9 inches in Black Hawk and Central City, with up to 12 inches possible
• 9 inches on U.S. 6’s Loveland Pass, with up to 17 inches possible
• 10 inches in Boulder and Georgetown with up to 12 inches possible
• 10 inches on U.S. 40’s Berthoud Pass near Winter Park, with up to 19 inches possible
• 10 inches on Colorado 14’s Cameron Pass, which runs between Fort Collins and Walden, with up to 13 inches possible
• 11 inches in Conifer, with up to 13 inches possible
• 12 inches in Estes Park, with up to 15 inches possible
• 13 inches in Eldora, with up to 16 inches possible
• 17 inches at Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, with up to 21 inches possible

Outside of Colorado’s mountains, where snow started falling earlier Tuesday, the heaviest snow will hit overnight and into Wednesday morning before tapering off by the afternoon, .

Most of Colorado was under severe weather alerts Tuesday evening, according to the weather service.

for heavy snow and hazardous travel were issued Monday for higher-elevation areas in Boulder, Grand, Jackson and Larimer counties. Those warnings will remain in effect until 3 p.m. Wednesday.

will be in effect for the metro area from 8 p.m. Tuesday to 3 p.m. Wednesday, according to the weather service. That includes parts of Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Jefferson and Larimer counties.

, which rank below winter storm warnings in , will cover parts of Adams, Arapahoe, Elbert, Grand, Jackson, Lincoln, Morgan, Park, Summit, Washington and Weld counties from 8 p.m. Tuesday to 3 p.m. Wednesday.

will also cover large swaths of Colorado — including the Western Slope, Eastern Plains, urban corridor and southern state — from Wednesday night into Thursday morning. The Yampa River Basin is under an additional freeze watch for Tuesday night.

“Frost and freeze conditions could kill crops, other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing,” forecasters wrote in the watch.

The report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration found that nationwide, residential electricity was cut off 13.4 million times and natural gas was cut off 1.7 million times when people didn’t pay their bills.

The report, which used a survey and studies, was launched after Congress directed the EIA to start collecting data on utility disconnections. The 2024 numbers are the inaugural accounting.

The report found that disconnections were most frequent in the South, according to an analysis by 

Individual accounts might have received more than one final notice, been disconnected or reconnected more than once per calendar year, the EIA said.

The findings come as demand for power and what customers pay are on the rise. Utilities across the country are getting requests to provide electricity to new data centers, which house the physical foundation for all things digital.

Utilities also face increasing demand as more electric vehicles take the road and more buildings are electrified.

To meet growing needs, utilities are looking to acquire or build new generation sources and seeking higher rates to pay for them. An analysis by a national nonprofit focused on modernizing utility regulation, said electric and gas utilities requested nearly $31 billion in rate increases in 2025, more than double the $15 billion in 2024

The tracks disconnections for all investor-owned utilities in the state: Xcel Energy, Black Hills Energy, Atmos Energy and Colorado Natural Gas.

The PUC prohibits shutting off service during extreme weather, spokeswoman Megan Castle said in an email. Disconnections aren’t allowed if the temperatures are forecast at or below 32 degrees Fahrenheit or above 95 degrees any time in the following 24 hours.

“Customers who rely on medical equipment or devices also receive disconnection protections,” Castle said.

The number of residential utility shutoffs tracked by the PUC has increased over the past two years. Castle said the total was 88,458 in 2025. The agency’s number doesn’t include customers of municipal utilities or electric cooperatives.

Nationwide, 94.9 million final notices were sent to residential electricity customers for nonpayment in 2024, according to the EIA report. October was the month with the highest number of notices at 9 million.

Approximately 27.1 million final notices were sent to residential natural gas customers across the country in 2024. The highest total was in April at 2.9 million.

In Colorado, the EIA said 152,600 final notices were sent to gas customers in 2024. The actual disconnections were not quite 3.5% of that number.

Final notices sent to residential electricity customers totaled 994,298 in Colorado. The shutoffs tallied were roughly 13% of the number of notices.

is a nonprofit that provides help with utility bills and energy-efficiency upgrades to low-income residents and other nonprofits. The program runs Oct. 1-Sept. 30 each year.

“In general, since last year (24-25), we’ve seen a 40% increase in bill payment assistance applications this program year,” Chelsea Rosty, vice president of community programs and communications, said in an email.

In 2024-2025, Energy Outreach spent $19.8 million and served 26,924 participants. The organization provides assistance with expenses for natural gas, electricity and other fuel sources such as wood, propane and pellets.

Castle of the PUC said all investor-owned utilities in Colorado are required to have plans to help low-income customers pay their bills and avoid disconnections. The program provides fixed credits for customers who pay 6% or more of their income for utilities.

The PUC has worked to make it easier for Coloradans to find and enroll in assistance programs, Castle said. The agency built the to provide information about help with bills, weatherization and incentives to electrify homes that may apply regardless of income levels or utility provider.

Re: “Xcel Energy wants to spend $100 million to meet summer electricity demands,” April 21 news story

After reading the article about Xcel Energy’s plan to charge customers higher summer rates to make up for the loss of coal-fired power plants, I have a question for the company and the Public Utility Commission. Can these costs be funded by charging data centers the same rates that we  residential customers pay?

There are at least five such centers near my residence in Centennial. It is widely known that these businesses require tremendous amounts of electricity to power their servers and additional energy to cool them. Our residential rates are already high and as senior citizens, we try to conserve power by using a whole-house evaporative cooler instead of traditional air conditioning. It does not seem equitable for us to be paying for more infrastructure when data centers and other large consumers have the benefit of lower rates.

Ricki Feist, Centennial

The first few pages of The Denver Post on Wednesday left me shaking my head in disbelief. Xcel wants an extra $100 million to do its one job of keeping the power on this summer. A state legislator wants the always financially struggling Denver Public Schools to take over the Sheridan schools as well, while cities in the Denver metro area are intent on forcing us out of our cars and onto buses. RTD announces they are cutting 20% of their routes. The inmates truly are running the asylum.

David Forsyth, Denver

RTD should look at administration costs for cuts

Re: “RTD management wants directors to cut public transit by at least 20%,” April 21 news story

I’m sorry, but I need some help with RTD’s numbers. Its overall budget is reported to be $1.5 billion. RTD’s management wants to cut service by 20% in order to reduce spending by $62 million, which is, wait for it, a 4.1% savings.

If RTD does not get a $40 million subsidy from the state (which seems likely given the state’s lack of money), a further 16% cut in service would be required for a total service reduction of 36% – over one third. Which would save RTD $102 million. But wait, this is only a budgetary savings of 6.8%.

If RTD’s solution is to make savage reductions in service for minuscule budgetary reductions, perhaps they need to look for potential savings on the management/administration side of the business. If RTD cuts service by 20%, perhaps upper management should take a 20% pay cut as well.

Guy Wroble, Denver

Boycotting Prime’s playoff viewing

Time for Troy Renck and others to take the next step against greedy TV.  Fans can refuse to be manipulated by paid viewing platforms in the same way defensive linemen can refuse to be manipulated by a quarterback’s hard counts. When Prime started streaming exclusive NFL games, we refused to watch even though we subscribe for movies. We put FOMO (fear of missing out) aside, and it turned out doing so was quite easy! Renck gives a better game summary anyway.

Judy Allison, Lakewood

As a fan of the Denver Nuggets, I have been looking forward to all week to watching their first-round playoff game. Unfortunately, the game is only being televised on Prime Video (Amazon). I have tried all the different options, including FUBO TV, but apparently, Prime has blocked all options out.

I, for one, will not be forced to subscribe to Prime and will respond by no longer being an Amazon customer. I have tried a similar online ordering service and found it to be comparable. If I am not the only fan upset, join me in my boycott. I am also upset with the NBA for allowing this to happen. It feels like fans are being tuned out for the money.

Steve Nash, Centennial

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issued red flag warnings Wednesday for most of Colorado, including the Front Range, Eastern Plains and southern state — where Xcel said it would implement a at noon.

The utility noted at 4:30 p.m. on its website that the wind speeds were not as high as expected, so a preemptive shut-off was not needed.

The red flag warnings, which started at 10 a.m. and will remain in effect until midnight, call for wind gusts of up to 60 mph and humidity as low as 5%, according to the weather service.

“Extreme fire danger is expected,” stated a for the San Luis Valley area, which was impacted by Xcel’s outages. “Fires will uncontrollably spread and be very destructive.”

The San Luis Valley is also experiencing extreme to exceptional drought, .

Xcel’s preemptive power outages would have affected roughly 7,100 customers in Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla and Rio Grande counties, according to the utility.

The utility thanked customers for their patience and recognized some may have been disrupted by ultimately unnecessary preparations for a preemptive shut-off.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

The plan filed late last week is a response to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission’s order that Xcel explain how it will ensure that customers’ needs will be met as temperatures and the use of air conditioning rise.

A big driver behind the concern is the loss of the 750-megawatt Comanche 3 coal plant, Xcel’s largest generation source. The long-troubled plant near Pueblo hasn’t worked since last August and isn’t expected to be fixed until mid-July.

Xcel, the operator and majority owner of Comanche 3, said in a recent filing that its share of repairing the unit is estimated at $4.6 million. The cost was released after Boulder resident Leslie Glustrom , an adviser to the nonprofit Clean Energy Action, filed a Colorado Open Records Act request, and discussions with the Colorado Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate.

Xcel has warned of projected shortfalls as it tries to meet peak summer demand. Xcel predicts the need for power will grow at the same time that its coal plants are being retired to make the transition to more renewable energy.

In a March hearing, PUC member Tom Plant said he wasn’t convinced Xcel would be able to meet summer peak demand. “Particularly when we have 85-degree temperatures in March,” he said.

Xcel Energy’s plan for the next couple of summers includes upgrades of natural gas and coal plants to generate more power and continuing to run a smaller coal unit at the Comanche Generating State past its original retirement date of December 2025.

The utility has also proposed increasing incentives for larger customers to agree to have their electricity curtailed in emergencies and a short term contract with Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association for power from a coal-fired plant in Craig. The plant was scheduled to close in December, but the U.S. Department of Energy ordered it to remain open, citing an emergency with meeting the country’s power needs.

Xcel asked the PUC to allow it to recover $100 million from customers for the money it spends to fill potential power gaps this summer and next. The company said $25 million could be recovered per quarter and any unused money could be returned to ratepayers.

The PUC is also considering Xcel’s requests for a $355.5 million electric rate increase and a $190 million boost in its revenue for natural gas services. Those increases would become part of Xcel’s rate base, unlike the short-term expenditures.

The $100 million proposal is an effort to maintain reliable service as Xcel plans for high-demand summer seasons this year and in 2027, spokeswoman Sydney Isenberg said in an email.

“We have identified resource adequacy as a growing risk for several years now and have previously proposed solutions to address this concern,” Isenberg said. “We will also continue to work with the PUC on longer-term resource planning efforts to support the state’s continued growth and clean energy goals.”

On Aug. 7, 2025, Xcel asked customers to conserve energy to avoid blackouts caused by the heat and high demands for electricity. A report by the PUC staff said there were unplanned outages of several fossil fuel power plants that day.

The Colorado Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate is reviewing Xcel’s plan to maintain service this summer. Joseph Pereira, director of the office, said in an email that Xcel’s worries about having enough power don’t mean people’s electricity is going to go out. State law requires utilities to report on the adequacy of their power resources and identify .

However, Pereira said that Xcel’s report makes clear that outages and other issues at the utility’s facilities are the primary reason for the company’s projected electricity shortfalls.

“These plant issues fall squarely under the purview of Xcel. Why should customers be on the hook for these costs when the company struggles operationally?” Pereira asked. “It is clear the company thinks customers are its backstop any time it falls short on its obligations.”

The Sierra Club will likely support several parts of Xcel’s plan on meeting summertime energy demands, said Matthew Gerhart, an attorney with the organization.

But Gerhart took issue with Xcel’s suggestion to buy electricity from the Craig coal plant. He said once Xcel’s Comanche 3 plant starts working again, the utility won’t need the power from Craig.

“It is quite ironic to be saying that to solve a problem caused by unreliable coal, we’re going to go out and purchase more coal capacity,” Gerhart said.

While Gerhart agreed with Xcel’s suggestions to use solar energy and battery storage to supplement power, he criticized consideration of connecting mobile natural gas generators to the distribution system. The gas generators would be one of the most expensive solutions, he said.