The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) upheld an initial decision by an administrative law judge (ALJ) issued in January, which had recommended that Xcel Energy subsidiary Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCC) be denied any further rate recovery of SmartGridCity costs. The commission said the utility had been given ample opportunity to prove the prudence of the rising costs of the project but that the company had failed to do so. According to the PUC the utility’s original cost projections for the SmartGridCity project were in the neighborhood of $16 million when it first advanced its AMI plan in 2008. By 2009, however, the company said its total investment would be closer to $27.9 million. Later that same year, PSCC adjusted the price tag upward yet again, to $42 million. Its final cost estimate was $44.5 million. Re: Public Service Co. of Colorado, Docket No. 11A-1001E, Decision No. C13-0436, adopted March 21, 2013, effective April 15, 2013 (Colo.P.U.C.). For more analysis, subscribe to URN. http://www.fortnightly.com/utility-regulatory-news-0
