It’s something we are all familiar with. It’s that feeling when the XCEL bill lands in your email inbox, or heaven forbid, in a text app on your phone. But there it is, the one thing we can rely on. Our monthly bill for the energy we use to heat and cool and illuminate our homes and to power the appliances and electronic devices that make our modern lives possible. That bill will always arrive 30 days after the last one.
For those of us who prefer to pay by personal check, the monthly bill arrives in an envelope the color of a paper grocery bag. Those of us with both electric and gas service from XCEL can see, at a glance how our energy usage ramps up and down with the seasons and how this year’s energy usage compares to last.
But lately, things have changed. Lately, the price of that usage is creeping steadily upwards. Even for those of us who turn off the lights when we leave the room, the cost keeps rising. And for those of us who keep the thermostat a bit lower in the winter and higher in the summer, the cost still keeps rising. And for those of us who adjust the time when we run the dishwasher and the clothes dryer to the latest time-of-day rates, the cost still keeps going up.
For business and industrial power users, it’s the same story. In fact, costs for those users are rising more sharply, inevitably driving up the cost of the stuff we buy at the grocery and elsewhere.
In Colorado, there is one public agency that acts as gatekeeper between the utility companies and your monthly gas and electric bill. This single commission of three appointed public servants rides herd over an expansive department charged with regulating everything from how much you pay for electricity to how much the towing pirates can charge to give you back your car.
The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) regulates, most famously, the power utility companies, the biggest of which filed two rate increase petitions within the past three months. The PUC also regulates the many water districts around the state. It oversees a host of transportation-related industries, from taxis to truck companies to rideshares. Telephone and internet services likewise come under the umbrella of the PUC. The network of natural gas pipelines that bring heat to our homes comes under PUC authority as does the safe operation of railroads and rail transit. Talk about multitasking.
This year, the state legislature will consider, under sunset rules covering state agencies, the PUC. This year, the timing might be right for someone, anyone, to ask: is the PUC too unwieldy, too detached from us, the ratepayers, to truly ensure delivery of safe, reliable energy at a rate that is “just, reasonable, and not discriminatory.”
We’re listening.
Dan Larson is journalist and communications professional. He is a member of the Wheat Ridge City Council serving the residents of District IV.
