Colorado’s programs to help the poor with energy bills is reaching only a fraction of those eligible, according to presentations to the state’s Public Utilities Commission on Thursday.
In the informational meeting, representatives from the state’s investor-owned utilities, state agencies and nonprofit aid groups laid out the successes and challenges in the aid programs.
“The program needs to be tweaked,” said Skip Arnold, executive director of Energy Outreach Colorado, a nonprofit that distributes energy assistance funds. “It may be through outreach or revising the rules.”
Ann Hendrickson, manager for regulatory affairs at Black Hills Energy, which serves Pueblo, said the time was “becoming ripe” to revise the 2008 rules that set up energy-assistance plans.
“It is a dynamic situation where we need more flexibility,” Hendrickson said.
About 430,000 households in Colorado — 22 percent of all households — are eligible for federal energy assistance.
These households have incomes below 150 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $36,372 for a family of four.
About 13 percent of Colorado households are below the federal poverty line of $24,250 for a family of four.
The federal Low-Income Energy Assistance Program, or LEAP, administered by local agencies, provided $47 million for heating bills during the 2014-15 season.
Energy Outreach Colorado added about another $10 million, according to Arnold.
Still, LEAP reached only 19 percent of eligible households.
In 2008, the PUC adopted new regulations that enabled investor-owned utilities, such as Black Hills and Xcel Energy, to set up income-based payment programs for low-income customers.
Xcel, the state’s largest electricity utility, calculates monthly payments based on 3 percent of a household’s income.
Average households pay 2 percent to 3 percent for energy, compared with low-income households, which often pay as much as 50 percent.
“That leaves very little for food, clothing, medicine,” said Pat Boland, Xcel’s manager of customer policy and assistance.
The program, which covers natural gas and electricity, cost $9.5 million last year, Boland said.
During the last recession Xcel disconnections soared, but it is also difficult for the utility to chase after unpaid bills, Boland said. It is better to have ongoing relationship with customers.
“Once we get them in the door, we want to keep them in the door,” Boland told the commissioners.
Still, the Xcel program is reaching just 6 percent of the total low-income customers, according to Energy Outreach Colorado.
Black Hills Energy’s personal income payment plan covers 1,877 customers, about 10 percent of those eligible, according to Energy Outreach estimates.
The Black Hills program is financed by a charge of 28 cents on customer bills, which brings in $63,000 a month, while the program cost is $109,000 per month.
“It’s unsustainable,” said Black Hills’ Hendrickson. The utility is considering raising the monthly charge to 30 cents or 31.5 cents.
Black Hills rates have increased three times since 2008, and it has one of the highest electricity rates in the state, according to a survey by the Colorado Association of Municipal Utilities.
Commissioner Glen Vaad said he was “hesitant about opening a rule making until there are specifics.”
The problem may be more one of outreach and education, Vaad said.
“The bottom line is that people are still struggling to pay their energy bills,” said Rep. Dominick Moreno, D-Commerce City. “We need to make people aware of what’s out there.”
Mark Jaffe: 303-954-1912, mjaffe@denverpost.com or twitter.com/bymarkjaffe
