Dive Summary:

• A bill that would have transferred the trial staff of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to the state Office of Consumer Counsel (OCC) was voted down; if it had passed, the bill would have required the OCC to represent industrial customers in utility rate cases.
• In the current system, rate cases are reviewed by the staff of the OCC and PUC, while final judgment on rate increases are made by the PUC alone.
• The state's deputy attorney general said that industrial customers were already well-represented in rate cases such as this, making the bill unnecessary.

From the article:

"Large ratepayers have expert staff and resources," Zavislan said. "The OCC was conceived with the idea that small ratepayers needed to have a voice. By eliminating its targeted focus, you essentially eviscerate the reason the OCC exists in the first place. ...