4E2E0BAA97CD687C87258972006ECD1A Hearing Summary

PUBLIC
BILL SUMMARY For PANEL PRESENTATION FROM XCEL ENERGY AND BLACK HILLS ENERGY

OTHER COMMITTEE COMMITTEE ON JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE ON RISING UTILITY RATES
Date Mar 14, 2023
Location Old State Library

Panel Presentation from Xcel Energy and Black Hills Energy - Committee Discussion Only

Attachment Tag

File Name

Attachment

Attachment A.pdf

Attachment

Attachment B.pdf

02:10:48 PM

Robert Kenney, President
Public Services Company (PSCo), and Hollie Velasquez Horvath, Regional
Vice President, State Affairs and Community Relations, PSCo, with Xcel
Energy gave a presentation (Attachment A) on Xcel Energy and rising utility
rates. Their presentation included information on net-zero energy goals,
residential bill national comparisons, winter bill trends, energy assistance,
how Xcel has been giving back to the community, and policy ideas.

02:20:50 PM

Nick Wagner, Vice
President of Colorado Regulatory Affairs and Policy, and Kellie Ashcraft,
Vice President of Colorado Operations, with Black Hills Energy gave their
presentation (Attachment B). Their presentation provided information on
their operations in Colorado, why energy bills are higher this year, priorities
for Black Hills, their winter ready campaign, and support for their customers.

02:30:32 PM

The committee started
the question and answer portion of the panel. The committee asked questions
on the following topics:

the cost of implementing legislation that has been passed regarding renewable
energy;

the data and charts in Xcel's presentation and how Colorado legislation
and prices compare to others;

how much the customer is paying for the legislation that is being passed;

the savings associated with clean energy;

how the investments made by Xcel are funded;

the balance of investments, public interests, and the company's interest;

the amount of money spent on fees for rate change cases brought to the
Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and incentives for Xcel to keep the cost
down;

the last time Xcel has been denied a rate change from the PUC;

how the companies recover litigation fees and the impact on the customer;

the accountability and transparency of utility companies in the rate change
process;

how the utilities can lower costs of rate cases;

public interest in the rate making process;

lobbying as it pertains to the General Assembly and how it is funded;

what gets included in rates;

incentives to help customers;

strategies to protect vulnerable customers/rate payers;

rate reform strategies;

justification of the return on equity and the unique model of being a natural
monopoly;

what the utilities imply by investing profits into infrastructure;

where money for investments comes from;

how much is going into profits versus the rate;

the operation of the PUC;

the relation of all time high of customers needing assistance and utilities
making all time high profits;

if the return on equity is going down how are profits going up;

what is the cause for the profit margins;

how utilities make projections for down the road;

meeting clean energy goals, reliability, and decreasing usage;

federal funding and how it can be applied;

investment on storage and prohibiting factors;

what customers can do for assistance; and

implications of planning, forecasting, and the impact on future generations.

Panel Presentation from Xcel Energy and Black Hills Energy - Committee Discussion Only

Colorado General Assembly