(Colorado News Connection) Coloradans can now submit comments on Xcel Energy's proposal to increase base rates for electricity.

Bill Levis, an AARP Colorado volunteer and former director of the Colorado Office of Consumer Counsel, charged with protecting consumers, said Xcel has maintained robust profits while hiking utility bills year after year, a practice he calls "pancaking," which stacks costs onto customers.

He argued many Coloradans trying to get by on Social Security cannot afford additional rate increases.

"And this is a huge impact on them," Levis pointed out. "We have found that utilities can take up between 10 percent and 30 percent of the income of seniors. And that's really hard to take."

Xcel has reported the cost of electricity increased by just under 5% from the last quarter of 2022, and their new proposal before the Colorado Public Utilities Commission would raise base rates by 8.2%. People can comment on the proposal by calling 303-869-3490, online at puc.colorado.gov, and at public hearings scheduled for May 31 and July 11.

Xcel is also asking the Public Utilities Commission to bump up its authorized profits to just over 10 percent. Last year Xcel posted more than $8.3 billion in gross profits.

Public Service, the regulated utility with a mission to provide energy to consumers at the lowest cost possible, is a subsidiary of Xcel, a for-profit company. Levis contended it is where the conflict comes in.

"Because the goal of for-profit companies is to maximize shareholder value," Levis explained. "But there are times when even for-profit companies have to bite the bullet and absorb some of the costs."

Xcel has argued rate increases are necessary to transition to clean energy. But Levis countered the company is passing costs along to consumers and refuses to put any skin in the game.

He noted when telephone utilities upgraded their copper networks to fiber optics, they took on part of the costs. The Public Utilities Commission will conduct public and evidentiary hearings before deciding whether Xcel should be granted a fifth rate increase in as many years. A decision is expected in September.