Are you aware that we now pay up to triple for electricity between 5-9 p.m.? 

Xcel Energy just “simplified” time-of-use electricity rates across its Colorado territory, now extending to Summit County. But did Xcel and the Public Utilities Commission push us in the wrong direction?

For years, Front Range Xcel customers followed a three-step schedule that matched how the grid behaves:

• 1-3 p.m., mid-peak price, as demand ramps up.
• 3-7 p.m., on-peak rate, when industry, offices, and air conditioning all run hardest.
• 7-9 p.m., mid-peak again as demand eases.

That pattern reflected reality. Now Xcel and the PUC have collapsed those tiers into one 5-9 p.m. on-peak block, when we pay triple the base rate. It sounds tidy, but data show Colorado’s grid peaks around 3-5 p.m. The new design moves the price signal away from the hours that truly strain the system. Electrons don’t care whether consumption happens in a home or a factory. The grid isn’t divided by sector. It’s one system.

Summit County only moved onto time-of-use electricity rates on Oct. 1. So just as local families adjust to the new rate structure, they’re stepping into one already misaligned with the grid.

When Xcel ran its first time-of-use electricity rates pilot in 2018 to 2019, the on-peak window was 2-6 p.m. for that reason. Since then, the grid data haven’t changed — only the policy. Regulators seem to have borrowed California’s 5-9 p.m. model, meant to address steep evening demand as solar production drops. But even there, that story has outgrown the data. California’s grid still peaks in late-afternoon, and the evening is now partly managed by storage.

It’s hard not to see this shift boosting Xcel’s revenues more than it helps the grid. The fix is simple: adopt a single 3-7 p.m. on-peak window that better reflects demand, protects working households, and rewards local generation when it matters most.

Our grid still peaks while the sun is shining. Our rates should too.