#breckenridge #colorado #coloradorealestate
Have you received your December utility bill yet?
Have you recovered from the shock of opening it and seeing your bill has more than doubled?
You're not alone.
The fact is that even if a family’s energy consumption isn’t going up, what Xcel Energy is charging them for gas and electricity has risen.
In the last year the Colorado PUC has approved six Xcel Energy electric and gas rate increases.
A main driver in the soaring bills has been the rise in the price of natural gas — a cost that gets passed directly on to consumers.
This year the spot price for natural gas doubled to as much as $8.81 for a million British thermal units before dropping to $5.45 a million BTUs in November, which still left it 25% higher than the start of the year.
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission has approved three rate increases this year to cover rising gas prices, the last one in September, just before the heating season began.
In June, the PUC also approved a temporary gas rate increase to cover $500 million in fuel costs during 2021’s Winter Storm Uri, which briefly spurred prices to as high as $190 a million BTUs.
On top of that, in October the PUC granted Xcel Energy a $64.2 million increase in the base natural gas rates, and last April, the utility commission also approved a $182 million hike in electricity rates.
Here is their mission statement if you'd like a good laugh:
Our Public Utilities Commission (PUC) regulates utilities and facilities so that the people of Colorado receive safe, reliable, and reasonably-priced services.
Contact the Public Utilities Commission and complain. Phone: (303) 894-2000. Email: Click here to email
