Happy New Year: Xcel Energy wants to lower your electric
bills.
Filings made Dec. 12 could lower the amount a customer pays by
13 percent.
Xcel files electric commodity adjustments every quarter. When
coal or bulk natural gas drop, the passed-along cost of generation
drops, if the Public Utilities Commission agrees.
New rates would go into effect Jan. 1.
Fuel costs for the next quarter — which are one component of the
overall electricity bill — will decrease by 38.7 percent to
$0.02025 cents per kilowatt-hour, from the current $0.03303.
Typical residential customers using 625 kilowatt-hours a month,
would see a decrease of 13.24 percent, or $8.10 a month to
$53.08.
Typical small-business customer using 1,025 kilowatt-hours a
month would see bills decrease 13.56 percent, or by $13.29 a month
to $84.70.
Xcel has many adjustments and filings pending at the PUC.
Officials don’t expect the net impact on an individual bill to be
noticeable.
