PUC hearing advances settlement affordability steps while staff presses for disconnection data and targeted pilots

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission heard extended testimony on the affordability and disconnection provisions in the non‑unanimous settlement offered in Public Service Company of Colorado’s rate case, with commission staff urging better data, pilot programs and guardrails to ensure limited dollars reach the households most at risk.

Staff witness Tricia Anste, the commission’s affordability manager, told commissioners she supports many of the settlement’s proposed enhancements to the company’s energy affordability programs, including broadening eligibility, simplifying self‑attestation and creating targeted outreach. But she said the company did not provide key data the commission needs on permanently disconnected customers: the duration of disconnections, census‑block or tract concentration and whether bill‑assistance dollars are reaching the communities with the most disconnections. “We need to know where people are most likely being disconnected,” Anste said, adding that knowing how long a household is disconnected is an important predictor of harm.

Anste asked the commission to require additional reporting and recommended a pilot of automatic enrollment or prioritized outreach for the zip codes or census blocks that account for the highest shares of disconnections. “Auto‑enrollment in a targeted pilot for disproportionately impacted communities could be a very good option,” she said. Staff also urged at least a six‑month reassessment with audited discovery rights to track whether expanded eligibility diverts funds away from the most vulnerable households or instead reaches them.

Deputy director Erin O’Neal, who sponsored staff’s settlement testimony, said staff joined the settlement because it achieves meaningful programmatic changes while also seeking to limit rate impacts. But she echoed Anste’s concern that voluntary outreach and opt‑in programs can leave many eligible households unreached. O’Neal said staff sees the settlement as a step forward but recommended ongoing monitoring — and made clear staff would support an investigatory docket or a follow‑up commissioners’ information meeting after six months to assess whether the proposed changes are reaching the intended population.

What happens next: The commission agreed to require tighter reporting and to pursue the pilot/work plan through the settlement’s working‑group processes. Staff and several commissioners flagged an investigatory effort or audit as a reasonable next step to fill the data gaps the hearing exposed.