FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November, 10, 2025
PUC decision reins in Xcel’s costly and bloated expansion, protecting customers while maintaining reliability and allowing for smart, measured growth amid record new demand
Groups: Even with some relatively good outcomes, there’s still much room for improvement
DENVER – The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has issued a final written decision on a proposal by Xcel Energy for an unprecedented expansion of the company’s electric generating resources. As originally proposed in late 2024, Xcel’s plan could have more than doubled the amount of power plant capacity across the company’s system in Colorado in just the next six years, with most of the growth due to projected new demand from the development of data centers, which use enormous amounts of electricity. Most of the burden for paying for that buildout, however, would have fallen on Xcel’s residential customers, as originally proposed. Throughout the year-long proceeding, the PUC has expressed skepticism about the projections and raised serious concerns about the risk of overbuilding and saddling customers with soaring rates to pay for billions of dollars in new power resources, which might not even be needed.
The PUC spent several weeks deliberating its final decision in August, and the PUC’s written order – encompassing 276 pages – details the outcome of those meetings in a sweeping decision that reins in much of Xcel’s original bloated proposal, while still allowing some projects to proceed and providing certainty to data center developers considering locating in Colorado.
Below are reactions from advocates and Xcel customers to differing parts of the PUC decision.
“The Commission’s decision makes progress toward more sustainable and equitable energy planning. That said, impacts to Colorado’s ozone nonattainment areas, where so many of our network leaders are based and ozone levels regularly fail to meet federal air quality standards, must be considered in energy decisions. Local elected officials are calling for clean, affordable energy solutions that lower their constituents’ bills, protect their health, and advance climate justice in all communities. Thank you to the Commission for its continued leadership.”
– Liane Jollon, Executive Director, Western Leaders Network
“The Commission’s decision to require consideration of Disproportionately Impacted Communities is a meaningful step forward. However, the exclusion of Colorado’s ozone nonattainment areas – where air quality consistently fails to meet federal health standards – is a serious oversight. Public health must be a central factor in energy decision-making. The Commission has missed an opportunity to require health impact analyses and full disclosure of PM2.5 and precursor emissions as part of utilities’ energy plans. I hope the Commission accounts for these important factors in its future decisions.”
– Dr. James Crooks, Associate Professor, National Jewish Health,
Healthy Air and Water Colorado Advocate
“While we are gratified to see that the Commission rejected the utility's gratuitous data-center-based load forecast, we are frustrated that they approved Xcel's mislabeled "Carbon-Free Future Development" (CFFD) slush fund, which potentially bills ratepayers for exploration of costly, unproven technologies that threaten public health and safety. Unfortunately, as a result of this ruling, consumers can be billed up to $100 million to fund Xcel's exploration of experimental nuclear reactors, hydrogen power generation, and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), all of which pose disproportionate threats to the health and safety of low-income communities and communities of color and divert resources from pursuit of an equitable renewable energy future.”
– Lauren Swain, Program Director, PSR Colorado
Physicians for Social Responsibility (intervenor)
“Colorado families continue to be concerned that Xcel is getting away with increasing our energy bills to build costly gas plants and fix the broken Comanche 3 coal plant, while corporate shareholders take home more profits. With all the costly mishaps happening at Xcel's largest coal plant right now, we are looking to the PUC to make sure Xcel gets this energy plan right. We need Colorado’s largest utility to leverage this planning process to go all out for clean, affordable energy that will reduce the cost of utility bills and reduce the pollution our kids are breathing.”
– Sara Kuntzler, Colorado State Director, Mountain Mamas
“The decision takes steps toward a just transition, including the rejection of a proposed tariff on any new solar in Pueblo, but falls short in some important areas. The decision doesn't go far enough toward the goal of correcting historic inequities, as mandated by Senate Bill 21-272, and protecting just transition communities from continuing harm. As advocates for environmental justice, it’s up to us to continue championing renewable energy coupled with storage, which was acknowledged in the decision, over expensive fossil fuels or nuclear.”
– Jamie Valdez, Colorado Transportation and Energy Advocate
GreenLatinos (intervenor)
“As activists for a healthy environment with a healthy economy in Pueblo, CO, Roots to Resilience leaders are relieved that the PUC decision did not allow Xcel to undermine our bright renewable energy future with a tariff on new solar and that they cut the unsubstantiated demand estimates from Xcel used to justify more fossil fuel generation while directing Xcel to pursue long term power storage to go with further renewable development. The decision does not go far enough, in our opinion, to correct historic inequities and reduce pollution in communities like Pueblo, as well as to control and reduce the unnecessarily high bills for Xcel electricity customers.”
– Velma Campbell, MD, MPH
Co-founder, Roots to Resilience (intervenor)