This piling on - or pancaking - of rate requests has consumer groups worried about bill shock at a time inflation is pushing all prices higher. An analysis by the consumer advocate office, which represents residential and small business customers in rate cases, found that since 2019 the average residential electricity bill is up 27%. It is all part of an ongoing trend, Schonhaut said. “There are additional increases that have been decided and haven’t been fully implemented.”
“We are going to see more increases,” said Cindy Schonhaut, director of the state Office of Utility Consumer Advocate. Three proposed rate hikes - one for electricity, one for natural gas and one to recoup money from a spike in natural gas prices in the winter of 2021 - are now before the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.Īnd that is just the beginning, consumer advocates say. Xcel Energy is seeking $950 million in natural gas and electricity rate increases that would raise the average residential utility bill by $16.49 by the end of this year with the increase climbing to $18.32 by 2023.
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