PUC - Supporters of the Cartel

It took acres of fires, destroyed homes, and untold misery for the PUC to take any action. What will it take next?

The PUC and Xcel Energy lie to us. Based on population figures, the numbers simply don't add up. How can a power outage that harmed Boulder, a city of over 250k people, only affect 50k customers? The vast majority of the city did not have power. I am not even accounting for the surrounding areas. Their metric is egregiously flawed. Does a grandmother living with her family, who's oxygen machine suddenly turned off escape measurement simply because her name is not on an Xcel bill?

While the PUC lies to us, the truth is that the PUC fails to do its job. We have aging infrastructure and an impotent, anemic enforcement body that fails to compel Xcel to perform any meaningful updates. These situations are entirely avoidable with proper investment. However, corporate greed and ineffective government that serves the interests of corporations and not citizens. The fact that aging railroad ties put in place during segregation are the backbone of our power grid is shocking and embarrassing. Where are the increased rates going?

Xcel energy profits to the tune of 14% leave state to line the pockets of billionaire CEOs. These profits, unjustly collected through a PUC-endorsed cartel, go to the CEO's gambling in the stock market, to islands, to jets, and to yachts. Not to our power lines. Not to local businesses and schools. Not even to the State, as Xcel calls Minneapolis home. We support a cartel and we don't even get the benefit.

Our state is NOT advocating properly for the regulation of Xcel Energy. The PUC clearly serves Xcel's interests. At best, the PUC is a farce. At worst, it's clear who they serve and it is NOT the citizens of the great State of Colorado.