

However, many Democrats and environmentalists would howl if Biden took those steps, which they say would undercut efforts to limit climate change. Republicans have called on Biden to help increase domestic oil production - for example, by allowing drilling on more federal lands and offshore, or reversing his decision to revoke a permit for a pipeline that could carry Canadian oil to Gulf Coast refineries. could ask Saudi Arabia, Venezuela or Iran to help pick up the slack for the expected drop in Russian oil production, but each of those options carries its own moral and political calculations. “Defending freedom is going to cost,” he declared. does not subsidize Russia’s war in Ukraine. He said the ban was necessary so that the U.S. has already imposed a ban even as Biden acknowledged it would affect American consumers. "While the pilot program will not move forward, we continue to help our customers manage their energy costs by providing information and resources that promote the efficient use of energy at home," the company said in a statement.Įnergy consumption data tracked through AMI meters is available for the utility's customers online.The U.S.

"I could not see how this rate structure would not detrimentally impact low income customers," Commissioner John Gavan wrote in his concurring opinion. "TOU will harm customers in southern Colorado," Commissioner Frances Koncilja wrote in her opinion. Black Hills Energy, the business name under which we operate our natural gas and electric utilities, serves 1.2 million customers in eight states: Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. Regulators decided to reject the TOU application based on testimonies from stakeholders from lower-income areas of the state, such as Pueblo County. "It's our understanding that the Commission's decision to cancel the pilot was independent of our efforts to thoughtfully design and create the program as intended," Black Hills said. Summer months would have a 3:1 ratio between on-peak and off-peak periods, which would reduce to a 2:1 ratio during non-summer months. Ĭommissioners had ruled on June 6 to remove the June implementation deadline, citing the need to modify some parts of the administrative law judge's recommendation. The utility sought to randomly select participants and create two time-of-day pricing periods: on-peak in the early evenings from Monday through Friday, and off-peak. She favored waiting for the results of Xcel Energy's Colorado TOU pilot to come out.īlack Hills estimated the total pilot cost to be $801,000.

The goal of the pilot was to assess "if customers would change the way they use electricity if given price signals that would coincide with periods of peak demand on the electrict system," Black Hills said in a statement.įormer Commissioner Wendy Moser warned the state was moving too quickly on TOU last year and opposed the PUC ruling to require the Black Hills Pilot. "If a primary objective is to better empower customers to control their bills, other strategies such as Demand Side Management are more likely to achieve the desired results," Ackermann wrote in his opinion.īlack Hills began developing a TOU pilot for its 85,000 customers when the PUC set an implementation schedule aiming to have the rates in place by June of this year. He noted in his concurring opinion with the ruling that the combination of AMI-based price signals and DSM merits further exploration. PUC Chairman Jeffrey Ackermann suggested that TOU "in concert with" targeted demand side management strategies could lead customers, including those with lower income, to take control of their bills.
