The wholesale price of natural gas has gone up, which means Xcel Energy customers’ bills will likely follow.
The utility has proposed raising the price for gas and electric service. Higher natural gas prices affect the price of electricity because gas is one of the fuels Xcel used to produce electricity.
If state regulators agree, the increases would take effect April 1 and remain in place for three months.
For gas service, Xcel residential customers’ monthly costs would increase an average of $2.64, or 6.5%, boosting the bill from $40.60 to $43.24.
The average small business would see its monthly gas rate rise $14.07, or 7.81%. The bill would rise from $180.24 to $194.31.
Residential customers’ electric rates would rise $2.56 a month, or 2.78%, increasing the average monthly bill from $92.34 to $94.90. Rates would go up $5.15, or 4.25%, a month for small businesses. The average monthly bill would increase from $121.3 to $126.38.
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission will consider the increases as part of quarterly commodity price adjustments.
Xcel Energy passes on increases in wholesale prices directly to customers. The company said in a statement that fuel costs are recovered from customers on a dollar-for-dollar basis and Xcel does not profit from the price hike.
Xcel is Colorado’s largest electric utility. It provides electricity to 1.6 million customers and natural gas to 1.5 million customers, with overlaps between the two groups.
In November, the PUC approved a revenue increase of $130.76 million for Xcel Energy. The company proposed a rate increase that would have generated about $171 million.