Public Service Co. of Colorado, which operates as Xcel Energy, will charge natural gas customers more this fall after state regulators approved a settlement raising average residential bills by 8.6 percent a month.
Xcel Energy’s natural gas customers will pay more this fall after the Colorado Public Utilities Commission approved a settlement in the company’s 2025 gas rate case, Proceeding No. 25AL-0538G. If the settlement agreement is approved by the commission without modifications, Xcel’s gas base rate revenues would increase by $122.7 million and residential monthly bills would increase by approximately 8.6 percent.
What regulators approved
The settlement was filed on July 13, 2026, with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission by Public Service Co. of Colorado, CPUC Staff, the Colorado Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate, the Colorado Energy Office, Western Resource Advocates/Sierra Club, Energy Outreach Colorado and various other parties. Key terms include a revenue increase of $123 million, an ROE of 9.2 percent and an equity ratio of 54.5 percent. A CPUC decision and implementation of final rates is anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2026. Once a final written decision is issued, parties to the rate case will have the opportunity to ask the commission to reconsider aspects of the decision.
Xcel Energy proposed, in a separate proceeding, No. 24AL-0049G, a rate increase for natural gas based on a proposed revenue requirement target of $171 million. The commission approved a revenue requirement increase of $130.76 million in that earlier case. The current 2025 gas rate case settlement proposes a $123 million revenue increase, with a CPUC decision expected in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Public Service Co. of Colorado, which operates as Xcel Energy in Colorado, filed its natural gas rate proposal on Dec. 29, 2025.
The broader rate picture for Colorado customers
The gas ruling lands just weeks after a separate Xcel electric rate decision that also drew sharp scrutiny. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission approved an annual Xcel Energy increase of roughly $157 million, reducing the company’s initial request for $356 million in annual revenue by 56 percent, resulting in an increase of 4.77 percent, or $5.00 for residential customers per month. Xcel filed its electric rate case proposal on Nov. 21, 2025, seeking a $356 million increase in annual revenue. The increase took effect Aug. 29.
Affordability became a central issue in the electric rate case. Consumer advocates described the gas ruling as arriving alongside the eighth rate hike since September 2023. PUC Chairman Eric Blank noted that despite declining electricity sales since 2021, Xcel had sharply increased its capital spending, from $1.6 billion in 2021 to $5.4 billion in 2025, with the utility proposing to spend nearly $6 billion in 2026.
Affordability protections attached
PUC Director Rebecca White stated that energy affordability, particularly for low-income customers, remains a priority for the commission, and described the outcome as notable for the unprecedented number of provisions to keep bills affordable and prevent disconnections.
The parties to both rate cases, including Xcel Energy, the state Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate and major business customers, retain the option to ask for a PUC rehearing and reconsideration of the decisions.
The Xcel gas settlement sits below the utility’s original revenue request, though critics argue the cumulative effect of back-to-back filings is what strains household budgets most. A similar dynamic played out in California, where Southwest Gas secured a significant increase for southern customers in a separate proceeding this year, and in Oregon, where regulators approved a rate increase for large data centers under its POWER Act while trimming residential bills.
What comes next
In the coming months, Coloradans may see further increases to their bills, because Xcel is separately asking regulators to let it bill customers for running the Comanche 2 coal plant in Pueblo, or for purchasing more power from fossil fuels.
A separate Black Hills Energy electric rate case, Proceeding No. 24AL-0275E, was opened in June 2024. A subsequent Black Hills filing in 2026, Proceeding No. 26AL-0232E, is pending before the commission; Black Hills is seeking approximately $26.7 million of additional revenue each year , meaning Colorado ratepayers face another round of commission hearings before the year is out.
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission lists active proceedings and accepts public comment through its online portal.
