PUC submits regional markets report to Colorado legislature

NEWS RELEASE
COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF REGULATORY AGENCIES
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The Public Utilities Commission (PUC), part of the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), delivered to state legislators a report analyzing the potential benefits and costs of Colorado utilities participating in regional wholesale electric markets earlier today. The report fulfills an important requirement in the Colorado Transmission Coordination Act passed in 2019.

The report finds that Colorado electric utility participation in regional markets could reduce electric utility costs to consumers by as much as five percent annually while accelerating the state’s clean energy goals. Additionally, the study recommends a number of short-term steps that Colorado’s utilities can take to begin to realize the benefits of enhanced regional coordination and to put the state on a path to comply with a statutory deadline for the utilities to join an organized wholesale market by 2030.

Additional findings in the report address significant concerns with market options currently available. Flawed governance structures could shift core aspects of essential utility regulation from state to regional processes that may not align with Colorado’s environmental and economic goals. Immediate participation in today’s markets in the West also could have negative impacts on resource acquisition, transmission expansion, and generator interconnection.

“Colorado is doing many things really well right now. We have a nationally recognized resource planning and acquisition process, where competitive bidding and third-party participation cause our utilities to access low-cost renewable energy resources with benefits directly flowing to customers in ways that some organized wholesale markets have struggled to replicate,” said PUC Charmain, Eric Blank.

“I believe we’re on track to over-achieve our 2030 utility emission reduction requirements at a reasonable cost, while maintaining a safe and reliable system. Under these circumstances, we have time to ensure the state’s electric utilities stay on the right path. Significant efforts are being made to resolve the problems with current market designs in the West, and we can actively seek the organized wholesale market structure that provides the  best fit. This report helps identify what we’ll need to see to make these options work for Colorado,” Blank continued.

The report concludes that to protect the public interest the PUC should open a rulemaking proceeding to ensure just and reasonable rates and to maintain a safe and reliable electric system by retaining state oversight of electric utility resource decisions as the electric utilities continue this shift toward participation in regional markets.

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