There have been headlines across the nation about data centers impacting electric bills for customers in many utilities. Colorado Springs Utilities saw them too. That is what led to Springs Utilities proactively taking steps to ensure that large customers with demands of 10 megawatts or more pay the full cost of providing service, without shifting costs onto Colorado Springs families or businesses.
As a community-owned utility, Springs Utilities does not determine growth. Its obligation is to serve all customers within its service territory, while protecting affordability and reliability for the community it serves.
In 2025, Springs Utilities proactively strengthened its approach for serving large electric customers. Any customer with an electric demand of 10 megawatts or more takes service under the Industrial Service large-load rate, which is specifically designed to prevent cost shifting while also providing a pathway for large customers to receive electric service. Under this rate, large customers sign large-load agreements and pay for the full amount of capacity they request, even if they do not use all of it. This ensures that costs are fully recovered and that unused capacity supports system reliability.
Large-load customers are also responsible for the full cost of any infrastructure upgrades needed to serve them. If additional power is required, power purchased through the Southwest Power Pool is assigned only to that customer. These customers also pay additional charges during the early years of service to ensure that the customer driving the demand for large-load system needs fund that demand.
Before service begins, all prospective customers go through a defined process that starts with an intake request and progresses to detailed studies that evaluate system impacts and resource needs. This ensures Springs Utilities commits resources only when staffers know that service can be provided reliably and responsibly.
Participation in the Southwest Power Pool further strengthens this approach by giving Springs Utilities access to regional generation and transmission resources that help serve large loads while maintaining strong safeguards for other customers.
The Bottom Line
Large-load customers pay the full cost of what they require, and existing customers are protected. This approach allows Springs Utilities to support economic growth and prospective customers without increasing electric bills for the community it serves.