PUC hears public comment on Xcel’s $1.9 billion wildfire-mitigation plan and PSPS proposal

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on Feb. 6 took public comment on the Public Service Company of Colorado’s (Xcel Energy) proposed 2025–2027 wildfire mitigation plan, its public safety power shutoff (PSPS) procedures and a proposed $1.9 billion wildfire mitigation adjustment rider the company would recover through customer bills.

Director White, a PUC staff member who opened the hearing, summarized the filing and told attendees the company grouped its proposals into four categories: situational awareness, system resiliency, operational mitigation and customer support. She said the company projects the application’s total budget at approximately $1,900,000,000 and estimates a fully approved rider would raise residential customer bills by about $9 per month. The docket is 24A-0296E; staff said the matter is set for hearing in early May and commissioners expect to deliberate and likely issue a decision in August.

Why it matters: The proposal would fund a broad set of wildfire risk measures and changes to grid operations that can affect outages, public-safety shutoffs and the pace and cost of power restoration across Xcel’s Colorado service area.

Substantive elements of the plan described by staff include: expanded situational-awareness tools such as meteorological and software systems and increased deployment of AI-based cameras; system-resiliency investments including targeted transmission upgrades…