Senate Finance reauthorizes PUC with negotiated reforms, adds guardrails for third‑party program administration

Senate Finance advanced House Bill 13‑26, the Public Utilities Commission sunset/reauthorization package, after extensive stakeholder negotiation and adoption of two sponsor amendments that clarified appeals for local government decisions and established guardrails for third‑party administration of some customer‑facing programs.

PUC Director Rebecca White said the bill incorporates many recommendations from the statutory sunset review and that negotiated House amendments and the latest sponsor fixes reflect broad compromise. Supporters from utilities, local governments and climate/consumer groups said the bill modernizes PUC processes, strengthens quality‑of‑service reporting and increases transparency without changing the commission’s core structure.

Key negotiated items include a study process to consider longer‑term reforms (including a possible increase in commissioners), clarified appeal language so local governments retain appropriate review mechanisms, and a narrowly tailored third‑party administrator authority with performance and labor guardrails. The committee adopted L093 and L097 (among others) and voted 8‑1 to refer the bill to Appropriations.