By: Laurie Anderson, Colorado Field Organizer
Date: August 25, 2026
About:Xcel's proposed Clean Transition Tariff
To: Colorado Public Utility Commission
Good afternoon. My name is Laurie Anderson, and I am a Colorado Field Organizer with Moms Clean Air Force, a community of over 1.6 million moms and dads united against air pollution—including the urgent crisis of our changing climate—to protect our children’s health.
As Colorado experiences growing demand from large electricity users, including data centers, we are deeply concerned about the potential consequences for public health, air quality, our climate, and household energy bills.
We recognize that this proceeding is not about whether data centers should be built. Rather, it is about the rules Xcel must follow when providing electricity to these large customers—and what protections should be in place for Colorado families.
Data center growth must not come at the expense of Colorado families. Children are especially vulnerable to air pollution, and growing electricity demand should not lead to greater reliance on fossil fuels. Increasing or prolonging fossil fuel use can significantly harm communities already burdened by large-scale oil and gas development, or facing new fracking proposals. Natural gas extraction releases pollutants that worsens ozone where we are already at risk of being downgraded from severe to extreme nonattainment, increases greenhouse gas emissions, and harms public health.
That is why Moms Clean Air Force strongly supports policies that ensure new large loads are paired with new clean energy resources. We are particularly concerned that Xcel's proposed Clean Transition Tariff would limit a customer's ability to voluntarily fund additional wind, solar, and battery storage. These are among the most affordable and commercially available clean energy technologies available today. Colorado should be creating pathways for new electricity demand to be met with clean energy without delaying coal plant retirements or locking families into decades of additional fossil fuel pollution.
Beyond the climate and air quality impacts, many Colorado families are struggling to make ends meet, including families who disproportionately bear impacts from energy development. Therefore, we urge the Commission to ensure that all costs associated with serving new large-load customers are borne by those customers, not by existing ratepayers. Colorado families should not subsidize transmission upgrades, generation resources, or other infrastructure needed to serve large data center customers. Strong protections are necessary to prevent stranded asset risks if large customers reduce operations, relocate, or fail to meet projected demand.
Finally, transparency and accountability are essential. There should be no secret or fast-tracked contracts for data centers. Communities who will be dealing with upfront construction and long-term pollution from the high power demand of data centers deserve visibility into proposed agreements, energy resource plans, environmental impacts, and potential ratepayer consequences. Public oversight is essential to ensure equitable outcomes and to protect the health and economic well-being of Colorado families. Any “unique needs” of data center customers should be addressed transparently and with appropriate public oversight.
We respectfully ask the Commission to prioritize clean energy development, strong ratepayer protections, transparency, and environmental justice as you consider this proceeding.
Thank you for your time and for your service to the people of Colorado.