Colorado utility commissioners advance proposed rules on public comments, case deadlines

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission advanced proposed changes to its case procedures, including fuller summaries of public comments in decisions and shorter response deadlines for motions. Commissioners backed the proposals section by section at their Oct. 28 meeting, according to the meeting recording. Commission counsel recommended issuing a formal notice and referring the package to an administrative law judge for review; the commission has not adopted final rules.

The targeted package responds to 2026 legislation and focuses on the commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure. The proposed changes could affect people commenting on cases as well as utilities and other organizations that file in them.

Under the proposal, commission decisions would summarize public comments, including their number, the positions expressed and how the commission considered them. The summaries would also address equity concerns and issues affecting disproportionately impacted communities. The proposal would make comments more visible in written decisions but would not require the commission to agree with commenters.

Other proposals would guide hearing formats, including consideration of party views, scheduling costs, child-care needs and travel conditions. They would also change procedures for deciding whether applications are complete, serving documents electronically and assigning cases to administrative law judges. For motions, the proposals would generally shorten the response period from 14 days to seven, while allowing the commission to set a different deadline or grant an extension for good cause.

The changes follow House Bill 26-1326, the Sunset Public Utilities Commission Act, which became law in August 2026. The law requires public-comment summaries in commission decisions beginning Sept. 1, 2026, and generally provides for cases to be heard first by an administrative law judge. It also requires the commission to adopt rules by March 31, 2027, on whether certain hearings will be in person, virtual or hybrid. That deadline applies to hearing-format rules, not the entire targeted package.

The targeted rulemaking is separate from a broader review commissioners discussed for later. That exploratory work could examine enforcement tools, penalties, compliance with commission decisions, data accuracy, customer-service standards and settlement practices. Commissioners anticipated returning to the subject in early 2027; they did not make an enforcement decision or open that broader review at the meeting.