Colorado Springs residents just got a jolt from their power bills as Colorado Springs Utilities' Energy Wise summer pricing kicked in on Monday, bumping weekday evening on-peak electricity to about $0.29 per kilowatt-hour from 5 to 9 p.m. That is roughly double the evening price under the winter schedule, while off-peak power stays far cheaper. The seasonal reset is meant to track higher summer demand and the steeper costs of producing or buying electricity when the heat is on.
The change applies to residential customers on the municipal utility's time-of-use plan. On-peak evenings now run about 29¢ per kWh, up from roughly 15¢, while most other hours remain near 7¢ per kWh, according to local reporting. To blunt the hit, the utility is urging customers to cool their homes earlier in the day and push dishwashers, laundry and other heavy-use appliances into off-peak hours. As reported by Colorado Public Radio, the higher on-peak price will remain in place through the summer months.
What changed
Colorado Springs Utilities' official residential rate sheet lists the summer on-peak charge at $0.2903 per kWh and defines on-peak periods as 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Friday. The Energy Wise plan also has an Energy Wise Plus option that layers in occasional critical-peak events billed at much higher rates for a few especially tight hours. That pricing structure appears in the utility's published rate documents. According to the Colorado Springs Utilities residential rate sheet, those figures are reflected in the utility's current schedules.
Why rates rose
Utility officials say the seasonal jump in the on-peak rate comes down to basic supply and demand: hotter days, more air conditioning, and pricier power on the wholesale market. “It’s not necessarily that electric demand is doubling, but the cost to us to generate or purchase that power is increased,” Utilities spokesperson Alex Trefry told The Gazette. The time-of-use structure, they say, is aimed at nudging people to shift some of their usage out of the crunch-time evening window, not at quietly boosting overall revenue.
How to lower your bill
To help customers game out the new setup, Colorado Springs Utilities offers several online tools, including a My Rate calculator and an appliance-cost estimator that let people see how changing habits could change their bills. The utility suggests "pre-cooling" homes before 5 p.m., using smart thermostats to ease off during peak hours, and running dishwashers or laundry after 9 p.m. CSU's Energy Wise materials say initial modeling shows roughly half of customers could see lower bills, and the other half could pay more under the new structure. According to Colorado Springs Utilities, the program is designed to be revenue-neutral overall.
Who Is Affected
The shift has been in the works for a while. Colorado Springs Utilities began rolling out its Energy Wise time-of-use structure last fall, moving new accounts starting Oct. 1, 2025, with many existing customers transitioned earlier this year, according to Colorado Public Radio. The seasonal summer window runs June 1 through Sept. 30, and local outlets reported the higher on-peak pricing took effect Monday as the utility entered its first summer under the new schedule. CSU officials have previously estimated that, without changes in when people run major appliances, some households could see a small bump on the order of a few dollars a month, though the actual impact will depend heavily on each home's usage patterns.
Bottom line
For many Colorado Springs households, the new summer on-peak charge will make those 5 to 9 p.m. hours noticeably pricier, especially on hot evenings when everything is humming at once. The flip side is that shifting just a few high-usage activities to cheaper times can soften the blow. Customers who want a clearer sense of what is coming should plug their details into the utility's My Rate tool and follow the Energy Wise tips to see whether adjusting their routines can keep annual bills steady or even bring them down.
