Xcel Energy, the state’s largest electricity provider with about 1.5 million customers, filed the $312 million rate increase request with the PUC in November. People wishing to comment must register via Zoom. However, the City of Boulder, one of the parties in the negotiations, says that the increase is still too much and will challenge the settlement during the PUC hearings, which are slated to run through the week and can be viewed online.Ī hearing for public comment is scheduled for Tuesday at 4 p.m. The UCA represents consumers and small businesses in rate cases. “The settlement agreement does result in just and reasonable rates and approval of the settlement agreement is in the public interest,” Joseph Pereira, deputy director of the Colorado Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate, said in a filing to the PUC. The settlement also puts caps on the amount Xcel Energy’s Colorado subsidiary, Public Service Company of Colorado, or PSCo, can charge customers for the attorney and consultant fees it runs up seeking the rate increase and on executive bonuses. The increase would amount to $1.54, about 1.7%, on the average, 600 kilowatt-hour residential bill, raising it to $91.60 a month. Xcel Energy trims $312 million Colorado rate increase to $45 million Close