As a not-for-profit, community-owned utility, Colorado Springs Utilities has a responsibility that is both simple and significant: we have a duty to serve.
We are obligated to provide utility services throughout our service territory. We do not decide which businesses or industries choose to locate here, nor do we determine who is eligible to receive utility service. Our responsibility is to plan for growth, serve customers reliably and protect the families and businesses who already depend on us.
This duty to serve has shaped how we plan our systems for generations. Recently, data centers have brought unprecedented utility usage requests to our service territory. Many of our customers have seen headlines about data centers affecting reliability and utility bills in other communities. We saw them, too, and acted.
We were the first utility in Colorado to establish customer protections designed to shield existing customers from unnecessary financial risk associated with serving data centers. These protections ensure large customers fully pay the costs associated with serving them.
The utility industry is unique. It takes decades of planning to properly serve growth, maintain the reliability our customers expect and meet any regulatory requirements that are introduced locally, statewide or nationally. Many of our customers rightfully question how data centers fit into this planning and want assurance they will not be negatively affected by them.
Customers with significant electric demands must sign long-term agreements, provide collateral, pay for infrastructure upgrades needed to serve them and fund resource adequacy requirements associated with their service. They are billed based on the capacity they contract for, even if they do not use all of it.
For example, if a customer contracts 20 megawatts (MW) of capacity but only uses 10 MW, they still pay for the full 20 MW.
Equally important, there is a clear process before any project moves forward. Prospective customers submit an intake application, followed by more detailed studies that evaluate system impacts, infrastructure needs and resource requirements.
The same, disciplined approach applies to water service.
Water is one of our community's most valuable resources. For prospective customers requesting 250,000 gallons per day or more, Colorado Springs Utilities conducts a study before any water capacity is reserved. These studies examine available supply, system capacity, delivery infrastructure and any agreements necessary to provide service.
The process also allows us to work directly with prospective customers to maximize efficiency and minimize water losses. In some cases, studies may determine that closed-loop systems are necessary to ensure water is used as efficiently as possible.
Our duty to serve does not mean providing utility services without careful evaluation. It means ensuring that growth pays its own way while protecting the reliability and affordability our existing customers depend on every day.
Colorado Springs Utilities has served this community for more than a century by planning carefully and balancing today's needs with tomorrow's challenges. As our city continues to grow, our commitment will remain the same: serving new customers responsibly while protecting the reliability and affordability our existing customers count on every day.