Colorado Springs Utilities is weighing an electric rate increase on the heels of a natural gas price hike approved last week.
Finance committee members on Friday favored an average $7 per month increase for residents equal to an 8% increase in monthly electric costs that would bring an average monthly residential bill up to $260, Utilities spokeswoman Danielle Oller said. Commercial customers could see a 10% increase to the cost of electricity equal to about $59 per month, moving the average monthly bills up to about $1,967, Utilities documents show.
The rate change could take effect in April and be in place for 13 months.
Increases are needed to pay off $30.5 million spent on natural gas for electricity generation in February above what was expected during four extremely cold days, a Utilities presentation showed.
Colorado Spring Utilities weighs electric rate hike on heels of natural gas increase
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Colorado Springs Utilities weighs electric rate hike on heels of natural gas increase
gazette.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from gazette.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Point: Candace Woods
$6,250. That’s the yearly stipend bestowed upon the people who decide how our city should function. That’s right. Colorado Springs City Council members are paid only $6,250 for developing policy that guides our city’s growth and serving as the board for our publicly owned utilities. By contrast, El Paso County commissioners make upwards of $100,000 a year for similar work, in the same community, with the same cost of living. Why would we continue to allow this devaluing of the people who broker deals with Scheel’s and Amazon, who decide how our utilities will grapple with climate change, who develop the strategic plans that guide our city’s growth?
President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan of 2021 into law on March 11. Shutterstock.com
Colorado Springs will receive $76.77 million and El Paso County about $140 million from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11. Now that the American Rescue Plan Act is final, I will be working with the Mayor and Chief of Staff to put together a plan for the funding, Charae McDaniel, the city s finance officer, tells the
Indy in an email. She did not elaborate.
Colorado Springs City Council President Richard Skorman says he wants the money spent on rental and utility assistance for people who are really desperate, as well as mental health outreach.