Summary |
Section 1 of the bill requires the public utilities commission
(commission), if relying on a discount rate when calculating the net present value of future fuel costs as part of a utility's electric resource plan, to apply a discount rate that does not exceed the long-term rate of inflation.
Section 2 requires the commission to establish mechanisms,
guidelines, or rules to limit the amount of rate case expenses that an investor-owned electric or gas utility may recover from the utility's customers.
Section 3 prohibits an investor-owned electric or gas utility from
recovering various costs from its customers, including:
More than 50% of annual total compensation or of expense reimbursement for a utility's board of directors;
Tax penalties or fines issued against the utility;
Certain advertising and public relations expenses;
Lobbying and other expenses intended to influence the outcome of local, state, or federal legislation or ballot measures;
Certain organizational and membership dues;
Travel, lodging, food, or beverage expenses for the utility's board of directors and officers; and
Gift or entertainment expenses.
If an investor-owned utility recovers prohibited costs, the
commission is required to assess a nonrecoverable penalty against the utility in an amount that is not less than the total amount improperly recovered and order the utility to refund the amount improperly recovered to its customers, plus interest.
Section 4 requires that, on or before November 1, 2023, an
investor-owned gas utility file with the commission for the commission's approval, amendment, or denial a gas price risk management plan that includes proposals for addressing the volatility of fuel costs recovered from the utility's ratepayers.
Section 4 requires the commission to adopt rules, on or before
January 1, 2025, to:
Help protect investor-owned gas utility customers from the volatility of gas prices by establishing a mechanism that aligns an investor-owned utility's financial incentives with the financial interests of its customers; and
Establish a mechanism to create a financial incentive for an investor-owned utility to improve its electricity production cost efficiency while minimizing its fuel costs.
As part of its rules, the commission may also consider requiring
each investor-owned electric utility to bear a percentage of its total fuel costs in order to incentivize the utility to find efficiencies and reduce fuel waste.
Section 4 also requires the commission to open a proceeding to
investigate the extent to which residential and other development in certain geographic areas drive natural gas infrastructure costs for any natural gas utility that serves more than 500,000 customers in the state.
Section 5 requires:
On or before December 31, 2023, each regulated gas utility
to remove from the utility's rate tariffs any incentives offered to an applicant applying for natural gas service to establish gas service to a property;
The Colorado energy office to contract with an independent third party, on or before July 1, 2024, to evaluate the risk that stranded or underutilized natural gas infrastructure investments pose and the annual projected rate impact that such stranded assets have on ratepayers;
The commission to determine whether any changes to rules or depreciation schedules are warranted based on its review of the evaluation contracted by the Colorado energy office;
An investor-owned gas utility to provide the commission information, including a map, about the utility's gas distribution system pipes;
An investor-owned gas utility to refrain from penalizing or charging a fee to a customer that voluntarily terminates gas service. The commission may adopt rules to establish standards for a customer's voluntary disconnection from an investor-owned gas utility's gas distribution system.
On or before July 1, 2024, the commission to examine existing investor-owned electric utility tariffs, policies, and practices to determine if the tariffs, policies, and practices pose a barrier to the beneficial electrification of buildings with respect to charges imposed for the cost of transformer or service upgrades.
Section 6 authorizes the commission to allow a wholesale
customer of an investor-owned utility to intervene in a proceeding regarding the commission's consideration of the investor-owned utility's application for cost recovery from customers.
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