Serving the community since 1903
WEEK OF NOVEMBER 14, 2024
VOLUME 121 | ISSUE 46
$2
ELECTION DAY 2024
State and local issues settled. See stories, beginning on page 2.
Regulators eyeing Xcel lobbying, salary costs Regulators put curbs on investor relations and executive salaries BY MARK JAFFE THE COLORADO SUN
Nail-biter for 8th District congressional seat Caraveo holds slim lead over Evans as votes dribble in BY MONTE WHALEY MWHALEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Incumbent Yadira Caraveo held a narrow 2,359-vote lead over her Republican challenger Gabe Evans for the highly coveted 8th Congressional District seat as of Nov. 7. Carveo led Evans 49%-to48% as of Nov. 7 in Congressional District 8. Caraveo appeared to lead in Adams
County while Evans was leading in Weld and Larimer counties. Over $20 million was spent in both super PAC money and by candidates in the race, which was seen by pundits as key in controlling the U.S. House of Representatives. Caraveo defeated her Republican opponent Barb Kirkmeyer in 2022 by just 1,600 votes, a race in which PAC’s spent $16.6 million in the general election, according to the Colorado Sun. This fall’s race was marked by sharp attacks on both sides, as Evans tried to portray Caraveo as being soft on border is-
VOICES: 8 | CULTURE: 10 | BRIEFS: 12
sues and enforcing drug laws including those for Fentanyl possession Caraveo claimed that Evans backed a national ban on abortion and was an ardent follower of Donald Trump and his policies. At an Oct. 5 forum sponsored by Colorado Community Media and KUNC said Republicans like to “...spread lies and are saying I’m not interested in securing our southern borders.” Caraveo said the nation’s immigration policies need to be applied fairly to make sure people seeking asylum are coming to the United States for a legitimate reason.
Caraveo said President Joe Biden should have used his executive powers sooner to cut off the flow of asylum seekers. She also said as a freshman in Congress she has sponsored legislation to reduce the cost of renting and introduced tax credits for affordable housing. Evans – a former Arvada police officer – said the country’s wide-open borders are letting in gang leaders along with deadly Fentanyl. Colorado is also the third most dangerous state in the nation and is saddled with one of the country’s highest costs of living. SEE BALLOT, P5
Colorado utility regulators — using the mandates in a 2023 law — are looking to carve lobbying fees, trade association dues and investor relations costs from Xcel Energy rate requests. In a current gas rate case, more than $775,000 in such costs were disallowed. The figure in the future could be a lot higher based on the Colorado Public Utilities Commission decision in October ordering Xcel Energy to remove all investor relations costs — including a portion of executive salaries — from its calculations of costs passed on to customers. “There is an inherent tension between customer benefits and investor benefits,” said Joseph Pereira, deputy director of the Colorado Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate, which represents residential and small commercial customers before the PUC. “Customers shouldn’t pay to boost the share price.” In the wake of soaring utility bills in the 2022-23 winter, when the average gas bill rose 52% for residential customers of Xcel Energy’s subsidiary Public Service Company of Colorado, the legislature convened a special committee to investigate rates. The result of that inquiry was Senate Bill 291, which aims to avoid the bill shock customers experienced. It also took aim at 15 types of expenses that should not be paid by customers, such as a portion of board of directors’ compensation, travel and entertainment expenses. The commission is still working on setting the rules to comply with Senate Bill 291. The PUC is using interim rules for the gas rate case. SEE ENERGY, P5
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