Colorado Springs Utilities recently celebrated a century of service to the city, an impressive milestone made all the more striking given the Pikes Peak region’s explosive growth in the latter half of its history.

Prior to the consolidation of municipal services in 1925, residents were forced to navigate and negotiate a network of providers. Some were more reliable than others. Think about cell coverage in some mountainous areas and you’ll understand how uneven electricity, water and gas delivery were in the first few decades of Colorado Springs.

We’ve come a long way in a very good way, which is just one reason why the Utilities recent launch and mandate of its “Energy Wise” rate structure is so disappointing.

Effective October 1st for new residential customers and phasing in for existing Colorado Springs Utilities’ households in early 2026, electricity will cost twice as much between the hours of 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays then it does any other time of the day. In short, the municipality is attempting to incentivize us to shift our usage to times when less energy is being consumed overall. That’s because it’s cheaper to produce it when there’s less demand for it.

The change is also driven by a belief that reducing energy use during peak hours will lessen pollution. Pressure to close the coal-fired division of the Ray D. Nixon Power Plant is squeezing and shaping policy. The unnecessary war on fossil fuels waged by radicals cost everybody more money with no significant upside.

Colorado Springs Utilities is a community-owned, non-profit organization. While employees are fairly compensated for their work, nobody is getting rich from any of the rates they charge. Any surplus collected is funneled back into the system to help with the ever-expanding infrastructure, as well as ongoing maintenance. When it comes to electricity, there are 8 generation plants, 54 substations, and over 4,000 miles of overhead and underground power lines. The men and women who keep the city juiced and lit are reliable, fast, and hardworking. If the power goes off, it usually takes less than 45 minutes to get it back on.

But charging twice as much for electricity when the average family or individual are home and most likely to use it belies the reality of how most of us live. Because they’re reducing electricity rates outside of peak hours, officials claim the change is “net neutral” revenue wise – but that won’t be the case for those who have no choice when they tap into the grid. Washing machines are far more advanced than ever, but I’ve yet to find one that will automatically move our clothes to the dryer while we’re at work during the day.

Everyone will now be paying more to light their homes in the evening hours. Perhaps the popularity of candlelit dinners will increase. On the bright side, no pun intended, maybe increasing electricity rates will also help address the declining birthrate.

It’s a good thing “Energy Wise” rates weren’t in effect when the famed inventor Nikola Tesla was running his experiments in his laboratory up on Knob Hill back in 1899 and 1900. The eccentric pioneer was known to use massive amounts of high-voltage, high-frequency electricity between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Tesla wasn’t urged to change his adventurous and creative habits – nor should we be strongarmed or shamed into changing the timing of doing basic chores around the house. Or even worse, responsible and productive citizens who are contributing to the betterment of the city by working outside the home shouldn’t be penalized in the name of fuzzy and marginally impactful environmental concerns.

Travas Deal, CEO of Colorado Springs Utilities, has been wisely pushing to keep coal-fired electricity production going. In August, he told Colorado Public Radio, “What we’re looking at is an option to utilize Nixon to help maintain reliability and to keep cost points as low as possible.”

Mr. Deal is making a good effort. But driven by environmental zealots predicting gloom and doom that never comes, we’ve adopted an unfortunate and unnecessary scarcity mentality when it comes to energy. We should be good stewards of our resources, but we’re not going to run out – especially if we embrace the reliability and stability of fossil fuels while simultaneously developing and pursuing God’s many other sources of energy and power, even some yet to be discovered.

That two-tier approach would prove truly energy-wise and at rates we all could afford to pay.

Paul J. Batura is a local writer and founder of the 4:8 Media Network. He can be reached via email Paul@PaulBatura.com or on X @PaulBatura.