COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (KRDO) – The Colorado Springs City Council approved Colorado Springs Utilities’ tariff hike order on Tuesday to pay for a huge increase in costs incurred during a winter storm in late February.
The board unanimously approved a $ 21.99 fee increase for the next 14 months, taking effect on March 11.
The average cost per Colorado Springs resident is around $ 308 in 14 months. It is an even greater increase for commercial and industrial customers.
This happened after we reported that CSU was studying how it would pay for a major change in natural gas costs at the end of February. When the winter storm hit, many natural gas lines froze and limited supply, increasing wholesale costs. The utility company says that because it is a non-profit organization, it passes on costs to customers, whether they increase or decrease.
During a normal period, natural gas would be purchased for about $ 2.50 / Dekatherm, but it came to almost $ 200 / Dekatherm, according to CSU.
The board dismissed Option 1, which would require customers to pay more in a shorter period of time, and initially discussed Option 3, in which customers would have paid less in a longer period of time.
“I just read an article this week about house prices again reaching record levels,” said Councilman Don Knight. “If we take the task of helping people to get into their homes seriously, this is an area where we can really make a difference and have some discretionary expenses, since when are we going to distribute them.”
“This is not what the population in my district needs, with the pandemic and people unemployed or working less,” said councilwoman Yolanda Ávila. “They are fighting as they are, and this increase in rates is only going to make things worse for them.”
However, option 3 failed by a 5-4 vote and the council finally unanimously approved the remaining option.
“What Utilities presented today, as it presents Option 2, is probably the best balance for our community and for our Utilities really managing it fiscally and responsibly,” said Councilor Jill Gaebler.
The council also debated whether a similar situation could happen again in the future, with some members saying that CSU should be prepared for the possibility and others believing that the situation was rare.
In two weeks, the board and CSU will meet again to decide on an increase in electricity tariffs also linked to the February cold.
“But that will not be as much as natural gas rates,” said Utilities CEO Aram Benyamin. “For residential customers, it will probably cost less than $ 10 a month.”
On the same day that the rate increase was approved, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser issued a press release urging federal energy regulators to protect the inhabitants of Coloring from costs due to these spikes. Weiser said he was concerned about reports that an investment bank “benefited from an ‘unexpected gain’ of $ 210 million from fluctuating gas and electricity prices.”
AG @pweiser today asked federal energy regulators to protect coloradans from spikes in utility bills after the February winter storm in a letter he sent to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: https://t.co/j4vu7Ubww0 pic.twitter.com/MKEfuoFLXw
– Attorney General CO (@COAttnyGeneral) March 9, 2021
CSU said it will suspend disconnections until further notice and offers resources for customers who need assistance.
This is a developing story, check back for updates.