Committee to investigate rising rates

Lawmakers join Gov. Jared Polis in special emphasis on spiking heating costs

Colorado lawmakers announced Thursday night a special committee to investigate spiking utility costs in the state.

The end goal is for the bipartisan committee to recommend legislation or other actions lawmakers can take to stop future steep rate increases. The Joint Select Committee will comprise three state senators and three state representatives. The committee will reflect the majorities in the legislature, with two Democrats and one Republican from each chamber.

The committee’s goal is “to investigate the root cause” of recent price volatility in the market and potential policy interventions, according to the letter forming the committee. Coloradans’ heat bills shot up earlier this winter — and for some people, doubled compared to last year — with high wholesale prices driven by international market instability and especially cold weather.

Senate President Steve Fenberg, a Boulder Democrat, called it an issue “affecting literally everybody in the state.” It’s outside lawmakers’ purview and ability to lower costs overnight, but they can create policy for longterm prevention, he said. He didn’t have an immediate policy prescription. That would depend on committee findings.

“The volatility in natural gas prices is very much global, but the question is, how can consumers be better insulated from that?” Fenberg said. “And I think that’s where we can have a pretty intentional conversation.”

About 29% of Colorado’s energy comes from natural gas, according to Xcel Energy-colorado. State leaders consistently tout the state’s ongoing pivot toward more renewable energy, a move that Fenberg hopes can further insulate consumers from fluctuating commodity prices. While it’s not in the committee’s specific directive, he sees an intersection of climate policy and energy prices.

“We know that these are actually more affordable forms of energy,” Fenberg said. “So that begs the question of why are our prices going up? And I think that’s really kind of the crux of the conversation we’re going to be having.”

Speaker Julie Mccluskie, a Dillon Democrat, said “there are no predetermined outcomes” for the committee’s work.

“What we wanted to do was be sure to give the time and space for a thorough dive into what’s