Gov. Jared Polis on Monday asked state regulators and his administration to take every possible action to drive down Coloradans’ utility costs. But that’s much easier said than done, and no one should expect their sky-high natural gas and electric bills to go down anytime soon. 

The requests Polis’ made will take a year or more to take effect, and the Democrat said the only way to make a serious dent in the problem is to move Colorado away from its reliance on electricity generated using fossil fuels, a process that’s slated to take decades. 

“We are trying to align the actions we need to take to avoid or reduce future price spikes in time for the next high demand season, which will be next winter,” Polis said at a news conference in his office at the Colorado Capitol in Denver. 

Coloradans, however, are feeling the utility pinch now. 

As of Jan. 31, 91,105 people had applied to the state’s Low-Income Energy Assistance Program — or LEAP — for help paying their utility bills, and 59,506 have received grants averaging about $442. In the last few weeks, interest in the program is running 15% above last year’s pace.

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