Xcel Engergy fuel riders effective April 1

NEWS RELEASE
XCEL ENERGY
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DENVER (March 15, 2021) – As part of normal processes, Xcel Energy-Colorado submitted to the  Colorado Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) its fuel riders to be effective April 1. Xcel Energy’s Electric Commodity Adjustment (ECA) and Gas Cost Adjustment (GCA) are typically updated each quarter through filings made in March, June, September and December. Through these riders, fuel costs are recovered from customers on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Xcel Energy does not profit from fuel cost recovery. 

Xcel Energy’s ECA and GCA riders will be effective in the second quarter of 2021 and will not include increased fuel costs associated with the extreme weather event that occurred over the President’s Day holiday weekend in February. Rather, they capture variations in forecasted to actual costs from January  2021 and any variations from February will be captured in a future update subject to ongoing discussions at the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. 

Xcel Energy’s quarterly Electric Commodity Adjustment (ECA) for the second quarter shows an increase of  3.3% from the first quarter. That means residential customers will see an average increase of 64 cents in  their monthly bill while small businesses would pay just under $1.00 more on a typical monthly bill,  compared to the first quarter of 2021. 

Xcel Energy’s quarterly Gas Cost Adjustment (GCA) filing shows customers will pay an average of $1.22 more on their typical bill next quarter as compared to the first quarter of 2021, which is an increase of  3.87%. Small businesses will see an average monthly increase of 4.42%, or $5.48, as compared to the first quarter of 2021. Gas prices have trended upwards since second quarter 2020 where prices reached their  lowest levels in more than 20 years, resulting in average residential gas bills increasing close to 20% compared to the second quarter of 2020. 

If approved by the CPUC, new rates would go into effect on April 1, and would remain in effect for three months.  

A breakdown of the electricity price changes comparing first quarter of 2021 to the second quarter of 2021 is provided below: 

A breakdown of the natural gas price changes comparing second quarter 2020 to the upcoming second  quarter of 2021 is provided below: