Colorado’s top consumer watchdogs are asking a Denver judge to hit pause on a controversial Xcel Energy program that could leave renters footing the bill for their landlords’ upgrades.
In a petition filed Feb. 13 in Denver County District Court, the state attorney general and the Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate urge the court to overturn a Public Utilities Commission decision that opened the door for landlords to shift the cost of Xcel-backed improvements onto tenants’ monthly electric bills. They argue the commission misread tenant-protection statutes and wrongly treated financing charges as regular utility service charges. If the court sides with them, renters in individually metered units could avoid paying for heat pumps, insulation, and other upgrades they never asked for.
Xcel’s tariffed on-bill financing program uses third-party capital to cover upfront costs for electrification and energy-efficiency work, with the debt repaid through the customer’s electric bill, according to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. The commission signed off on the program last September and, in a Jan. 14 decision, concluded that landlords may pass the actual costs of an on-bill financing upgrade to tenants when the obligation is tied to the meter. Supporters and clean-energy groups say the structure can knock down upfront barriers to heat pumps and weatherization for income-qualified households, according to analysis by the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project.
The petition criticizes the ruling bluntly: “The Decision failed to reconcile how important statutory provisions protecting renters would operate with OBF obligations tied to the meter,” it states, adding that “simply because the financing costs are on the utility bill does not render them to be service charges.” The filing, brought by Attorney General Phil Weiser and the Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate, asks the court to issue a writ of certiorari and to reverse the PUC ruling. As reported by Westword, the petition also requests a ruling within 30 days.
What Colorado law forbids
Colorado’s recent consumer-protection law took direct aim at so‑called “junk fees” in rental housing and tightened the rules on what costs landlords can pass through to tenants. Under HB25‑1090 (Colorado General Assembly), landlords may not charge tenants more for utilities than the utility provider itself charges, and markups for third‑party services are tightly constrained or barred outright. Petitioners say the PUC’s interpretation of the on-bill program would undercut those protections. The commission has maintained that on-bill financing obligations tied to the meter are legally distinct from a landlord markup and can be structured to broaden access to upgrades.
Why advocates worry
During the PUC proceeding, tenant advocates and nonprofit program implementers warned that tying repayment to a meter could create chaos when tenants move, blur who is on the hook when a property is sold and leave renters paying off improvements they never requested. Energy Outreach Colorado and other consumer-advocate parties urged regulators to keep renters out of the program’s initial rollout to avoid those risks. Proponents answered that, with the right guardrails such as clear notice at lease signing and sale, limits on term and interest and protections for income‑qualified households, on-bill financing can still be a practical way to get heat pumps and insulation into homes that otherwise lack affordable options.
What happens next
The petition asks the court to move fast, seeking a writ of certiorari or judicial review and a reversal of the PUC decision within 30 days. Spokespeople for Attorney General Weiser and for the PUC declined to comment to Westword, and the Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate did not respond to inquiries for that report. If the court agrees to take the case, judges will decide whether the commission misapplied state law, a ruling that could reshape how on-bill programs are structured across Colorado.
For renters, the immediate takeaway is straightforward: scrutinize lease language and utility-bill line items, and ask landlords whether any upgrades or financing obligations are being added to the meter. For policymakers and utilities, the lawsuit is a live test of how Colorado will balance newly strengthened tenant protections with tools meant to speed electrification and cut upfront energy costs.
