Xcel tries to raise rates to pay for fatty snacks, gets fatty Utilities Commission smackdown

September 11, 2009 · Posted by in Energy 

Here’s a Friday story for you:

Mmmm... rate hikes. | Flickr user Pink Sherbet Photography

Mmmm... rate hikes. | Flickr user Pink Sherbet Photography

Xcel applied to the Public Utilities Commission to raise rates and, to justify a rate hike, included some questionable financial items, according to the Denver Post:

Company-provided noshes at Xcel Energy — coffee, tea, bottled water, bagels and doughnuts — came to about $173,000 last year.

The utility’s Colorado unit included that sum, along with $307,000 for employee-recognition awards and parties, in its application to the state Public Utilities Commission for a $182 million rate increase.

Not so fast, said PUC officials. The costs … “are not appropriate to charge ratepayers and should be absorbed by PSCo’s shareholders.”

Bad news is, the doughnuts didn’t account for much of the total costs that Xcel sent over for a rate hike, so you’re still getting it. Get the whole Xcel donut rate hike story at the Post. Or you can spend your Friday speculating as to how much of the proposed (and forsaken) solar rate increase would have been donut-related.

More fun with utilities on BigGreenBoulder:

Utility exec: Too many hybrids could blow up the grid! Xcel finishes building Boulder’s smart grid

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