Xcel’s work on plants, renewables keeps pushing electricity bills up in Colorado
Bills for Xcel Energy’s 1.4 million electricity customers in Colorado are up about 21 percent in the past six years — almost double the rate of inflation — to an average $68.26 a month. Over the next six years, rates are expected to increase another 20 percent as new power plants, wind farms and transmission lines are added, according to state regulators.
The increases have rippled through the bills of Colorado homes and businesses.
The Clegg family of Aurora saw its bill jump 20 percent in May to $108.98, compared with May 2009.
“We tried to cut back any way we could,” said Lana Clegg, describing “power-out nights” when the family of five turned off the lights and played board games.
Although they used less electricity and the kilowatt-hour charge dropped $7.83 on the May 2010 bill, six automatic pass-through charges known as “riders” increased 39 percent to $70.31. Those riders were for costs such as renewable energy, transmission and fuel to make electricity.
“That’s like a second bill,” Clegg said. “I can’t make heads or tails out of the Xcel bill.”
Corporate, government shifts
Two forces are behind the rise in charges — one corporate, one public.
In 2003, Minneapolis-based Xcel embarked on a strategy dubbed “Building the Core,” which focuses on upgrading facilities and building new ones and quickly getting those investments included in customer rates.
At the same time, Colorado, through a constitutional amendment and more than 50 laws, set out on a path to promote renewable energy and conservation — often providing financial incentives for utilities.
“We’ve gone down the environmental path, and that’s more expensive than building coal plants,” Richard Kelly, Xcel’s chief executive, said in an interview.
One, Colorado voted for President Obama in 2008. Two, Colorado has been dutifully following the president’s green-energy agenda. Three, Obama did promise that electric rates would “skyrocket” under his energy regime. (And four, we told you so.)