Understanding your bill | Colorado Electric

Your due date and the amount due are located at the top of the front page, along with your account number and service address.

Easily compare this month’s usage to the same time last year and view reasons why your bill may have changed since last month.

The billing summary breaks down your charges into four categories that are displayed in a simple, easy-to-read chart.

• Delivery: Costs to bring energy to your address. This helps to cover the cost of powerlines, technology and equipment required to deliver that service.
• Energy supply: Pass-through market cost of electricity.
• Taxes: Local and state taxes and fees.
• Other: Credits, adjustments and other charges included in your bill.

In this section you’ll find useful safety information and specific tips to help you save energy and money. 

If paying your bill by mail, detach the bottom of the front page and include this with your check in an envelope.

The last 12 months of usage history is available to help you see how this varies throughout the year.

Specifics about your monthly charges are shown by category and color-coded to match the monthly bill summary chart on the front page.

Important information about your account is included in the messages section.

Managing your account online provides easy access to resources and tools, including:

• Viewing your usage and bill history.
• Starting, stopping or transferring service.
• Paying your bill or changing your payment method.
• Managing email and text alerts.
• Enrolling in programs such as Auto Pay and paperless billing.

We offer several ways to pay your bill so that you can pick the one that’s right for you.

Customer charge: A fixed monthly charge, separate from energy usage, that recovers a portion of fixed operating cost, such as customer accounting and services, as well as costs associated with our investments in customer-related equipment such as meters and service lines.

Demand Charge: This charge recovers the costs for facilities required to meet the customer’s maximum demand. The facilities include generation plants, transmission and distribution lines, and equipment.

Energy charge: This charge recovers certain costs of producing and delivering energy and the variable costs of producing energy not recovered through other cost adjustments.

Tiered rates: Also known as an inverted block, these rates consist of two tiers. Tier 1, a lower rate, is charged for the first 500 kWh of usage in the billing period. Tier 2, a higher rate, is charged for all usage over 500 kWh in the billing period.

General rate schedule adjustment (GRSA): The GRSA is a percentage increase (or decrease) authorized by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC). The GRSA applies to the customer charge, demand charge and energy charge.

Energy cost adjustment (ECA): This charge recovers costs for fuel consumed in the utility’s generating units to produce the customer’s energy usage. The ECA also recovers costs for energy purchased from other suppliers, including transmission charges, costs related to hedging, and certain accounting transfers from the RESA as authorized by the PUC.

Purchased capacity cost adjustment (PCCA): This charge recovers the costs for generating capacity purchased from other suppliers.

Clean air/clean jobs adjustment (CACJA): This adjustment recovers the utility’s ownership costs and expenses for the LM6000 generating turbine.

Demand side management cost adjustment (DSMCA): The DSMCA recovers costs associated with the utility’s energy efficiency programs, as authorized by the PUC. These charges cover rebates, labor, materials and administrative costs of the program.

Transmission cost adjustment (TCA): The TCA recovers the utility’s ownership costs and expenses for certain transmission-related facilities not already included in base rates.

Renewable energy standard adjustment (RESA): RESA funds the utility's renewable energy program, as required by Colorado law, under which utilities must generate or purchase portions of their electricity from sun, wind, water or biomass. The RESA is a percentage multiplier applied to all charges except the low-income program funding fee, franchise fees and undergrounding fee.

Low-Income Program Funding Fee: The Black Hills Energy Affordability Program (BHEAP) fee is a monthly charge required by the Colorado PUC to fund BHEAP, which provides energy assistance to eligible residential low-income customers in Colorado.

Franchise fee, county and state sales tax: These fees and taxes are determined by the town/city, county or state, and applied to customers located within the town/city limits, county or state.

Undergrounding fee: This fee recovers the costs to place underground the conduit, conductors, devices and distribution lines required by the City of Pueblo for customers located within city limits.

Extraordinary Gas Cost Recovery Rider (EGCRR): This fee recovers the cost of fueling our naturalgas-powered Pueblo Airport Generation Station (PAGS) during extreme temperatures in February 2021.

Energy Assistance System Benefit Charge (EASBC): This is a charge collected from utilities’ gas and electric customers unless customers opt-out or are otherwise exempted. The charge was enacted into Colorado law in 2021 (House Bill 21-1105), providing bill payment assistance for income-qualified customers. The assistance is administered by Energy Outreach Colorado (EOC).  Customers may call EOC at 1-866-HEAT-HELP. Black Hills Energy customers may opt out of the monthly charge by emailing eaoptout@blackhillsenergy.com.

Electric Vehicle Rider: This is the rate all COE customers pay for the PUC required Transportation Electrification Plan, also known as our Ready EV program.