American Public Power Association, the utility giant that provides electric and gas services across metro Denver, and the consumers it serves has been heating up for years.
Glustrom praised Xcel’s progress, but continued to hold its feet to the fire. “We've made great progress on the electric side, and I want to thank Xcel’s employees,” she said. “On the other side of the coin is the natural gas. We’re at the beginning on natural gas and it's not a very good story, so it's kind of this mixed message here tonight.”
to address the situation — and it could again in the future. “Xcel is still discounting their future gas costs, at what's called their weighted average cost of capital, at something above 6 percent,” she explained. “If you didn't understand that, don't worry. It just means that they make their future natural gas costs look like they're going to be a really small fraction. Those of us who actually pay the bills know that actually the gas costs are a huge part of our bills.
Glustrom pointed out that the company’s higher rates is what earned that profit, not a new business model or a larger sales base. The PUC has considered eight rate cases since she began her advocacy work, leading to over $800 million more per year in revenue for Xcel since 2003. Pointing to the company's continued growth and innovation, he said that its position in the market is a good model. But Glustrom advocated for allowing consumer choice in utilities.