Residents Roast Public Utilities Commission for Failing to Stand Up to Xcel

Actions speak louder than words, but even words are better than merely nodding.

That’s the message the public wanted the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to hear at two listening sessions on January 31. The commission had set up the sessions because of the extremely high energy bills people have been experiencing across the state.

During the sessions, people shared their concerns about their utility providers, particularly Xcel Energy, which serves the highest number of people in the state.

Jeanette Neubauer, a widow who has solar panels that cover much of her electricity costs, said her bill went from $131 to $331 to $481 over the past three months, mainly because of the price of gas.

“I'm looking to sell my house because I can't live here,” she said. “What am I going to do? I mean, this is crazy. There's no reason for it to go that high.”

Neubauer asked the PUC to deny any type of rate increase going forward.

Janelle Carwin, who logged into the Zoom meeting as “heat is not a luxury” and attended both listening sessions, shared that even the energy-efficiency moves she’s made haven’t helped her bill to stay stable, with her latest totaling more than $500.

“I called Xcel and I asked, 'What can I do to be more efficient? How can I get my bill lowered?' I told them I have spray foam insulation. I have double-pane windows. I have a smart thermostat, a tankless water heater, as well as my home is set to 62 degrees,” she shared. “Their response was, you cannot get more efficient than the situation that you have.”

As people grapple with their dire situations, Xcel reported a sunnier picture for itself, with $1.7 billion in earnings during 2022. That number in particular upset many commenters.

“This is a utility making huge profits, doubling and tripling our bills,” Maury Cohen said. “And we don't have a choice. … Heat is not a luxury. Electricity is not a luxury.”

Several business owners who spoke during the sessions pointed out that, unlike their businesses, Xcel passes its costs for improvement and infrastructure on to customers.

“What companies do is they invest their own money in infrastructure, but because we've set up basically a cost-plus structure with Xcel Energy, they can push any amount of money onto us, the consumers,” Jill Egburtson said. “They're not forced to be efficient. They're not looking at cost savings.”

But people didn’t reserve all their ire for Xcel. In fact, much of the focus was on the commissioners themselves — because people understand that the PUC oversees the costs Xcel passes on to them.

“Taxpayers, constituents — you work for us,” Eva Boyd said. “You're supposed to be looking out for us, and, somebody already said it here, you shouldn't be looking out for corporations. I know you're listening to all these people. You say thank you for all your stories and everything. Everybody's story is the same, but basically, we need your help.”

Laurie Erp said that in her view, the PUC rubber-stamps whatever utilities want in order to keep their shareholders happy — and that is not serving the public.

For procedural reasons, the commissioners could not respond to questions during the listening sessions, which frustrated many commenters who wanted accountability.

“We operate in a very complicated legal environment where we need to provide notice and really just have to follow the rules,” PUC Chairman Eric Blank, who was moderating the sessions, said. “It's a very rule-bound environment.”

However, as people repeated during both sessions, the rules may be the rules, but when they are cold in their homes, worrying about having their utilities disconnected, or missing mortgage or rent payments because they can’t afford those plus their utility bills, following the rules just sounds like code for leaving them out in the cold.

Many commenters were ready to move beyond listening: They want action now. In fact, during the second listening session, people were so worked up that they began to organize, sharing contact information with each other in the meeting to work together to find ways to hold the PUC accountable.

Several asked the commissioners to tell them where they could go to actually get questions answered or have an impact on the outcome of PUC cases, calling the commission out for approving rate increases and not standing up for consumers as much as they should.

Blank directed them to attend future hearings and offer comments, noting that the commissioners would likely consider and discuss the comments they heard at the listening session at its February 8 weekly meeting.

“I think there are things we can do,” he said. “I think we can look at the disconnect policies. I think we can look at how gas prices flow into rates and see if there's ways of managing that better than we have in the past. I think there's ways of hedging gas prices going forward. And there's multiple electric rate case proceedings before us.”

The first opportunity came the very next day, on February 1, when the PUC heard public comments on Xcel’s proposed Demand Side Management and Beneficial Electric Strategic Issues application, which will govern its programs directed at modifying customers’ patterns of electricity use and transitioning from fossil fuels in electricity.

Plenty of people showed up once again to share their thoughts, with as many as 45 participants in the Zoom meeting, ranging from college students to seniors. Nearly every person shared a desire for the PUC to demand more from Xcel when it comes to electrification and cost savings in that process.

“Now more than ever, the decisions of a utility like Xcel will have ripple effects that impact our communities now and for generations,” Ren Smith, one of the students shared. “We're counting on you to hold Xcel accountable to making just decisions, because, as a company clearly driven by profit, Xcel has little incentive to prioritize efficiency and energy savings.”

Smith’s statement was echoed by other commenters, who pointed out Xcel’s profits and its lack of haste to transition to renewable energy. Several people mentioned that, since they have seen their gas bills go up because of natural gas prices, they were even more interested in alternative types of energy.

Othes noted that demand-side management can't fix every problem, as people can modify their energy use only so much, calling for Xcel to examine its response to demand and how it manages resources.

For those who want to continue being part of the process, the PUC has a public participation page that includes multiple ways people can comment on PUC proceedings. During the second January 31 listening session, Blank admitted that the commission owes the people who commented something concrete.

“In the coming days, we'll try and outline what's going on in the coming weeks and months and what the opportunities are to get a handle on this,” he said. “I don't think this is the forum to provide those answers, but it's, like I said, really helpful to better appreciate the lack of transparency and clarity into how these issues can be addressed, and in what forums.”

It’s clear people are at a breaking point, ready for someone, anyone, to do something. While the listening sessions may have caused some to feel that the PUC isn’t going to be their hero, they're not giving up until they get some relief.

“We are going to stand together, and we are going to fight,” Candy Lewis said at the first session. “I think we can win this battle, because it is a battle. It's a fight. … Thank you guys, all of you, for speaking up and for not being afraid, because we are going to win.”