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Coloradans struggling to pay monthly utility bills, agencies say

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Natural gas prices are lower than a year ago, when many Coloradans saw big jumps in their heating bills, but the need for help to pay utility bills remains high, say agencies that offer assistance.

For the week ending Jan. 21, the nonprofit Energy Outreach Colorado fielded 555 applications for assistance and spent $333,229, said spokeswoman Denise Stepto.

“The need is just unprecedented. These numbers are bigger than we’ve seen them before,” Stepto said.

She attributes the ongoing need to overall elevated costs. And Stepto said she’s bracing to see the fallout from the recent stretch of frigid weather when temperatures dropped into the single digits and below zero.

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“We are anticipating an increase then because people were doing what they needed to do try to stay warm,” Stepto said.

The organization that provides assistance is getting its own help from the Colorado Avalanche and Xcel Energy-Colorado. The utility is donating $1,000 for every Avalanche home assist this NHL season.

So far, the Avalanche have made 171 assists at home, racking up $171,000 for Energy Outreach Colorado. Stepto said the money contributed to date will support 245 households.

Xcel is also encouraging  Avalanche fans to donate directly by going to  https://www.energyoutreach.org/assist/.

At Colorado’s Low-Income Energy Assistance Program, or LEAP, 98,814 applications were submitted as of Tuesday. The total was 96,102 at the same point in 2023, said Vanessa Pena, LEAP program coordinator.

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The money for LEAP comes from the federal government. The program, in the Colorado Department of Human Services, accepts applications from Nov. 1 to April 30.

Last winter, a spike in wholesale natural gas prices coupled with cold weather drove up people’s heat bills across the state. Typical gas bills increased about 75% in late 2022 and early 2023, the staff at the Colorado Public Utilities Commission reported.

In late 2022, wholesale natural gas prices soared above $5 per unit but have decreased since then. The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects the price to average $2.70 per unit in 2024.

But many people continue to struggle to pay their utility bills along with higher grocery and housing costs, Stepto said.

“The cost of everything is up. It’s not just energy,” Stepto said. “The cost of living, rent, food and medication, all these things are higher.”

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A state help line that people can call for about their bills or problems with their heating systems has already gotten about 83,760 calls this winter. Requests go to both LEAP and Energy Outreach Colorado and can be made by calling 1-866-HEAT-HELP or 1-866-432-8435.

In 2023, LEAP received a total of 137,341 applications for benefits. Out of those, 88,938 households received assistance. The average benefit paid last year was $559.29, compared to this season’s average of $458.80.

To qualify for LEAP, Coloradans may have an income up to 60% of the state median income, equating to a household income of less than $71,112 a year for a family of four.

“LEAP can only cover so much because it’s a one-time assistance,” Pena said.

Energy Outreach Colorado, a nonprofit started by the Colorado General Assembly in 1989, helped a total of 26,561 households with their bills in 2023. Of those, 6,053 households included older people; 7,677 included people with disabilities; and 15,120 included children.

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Altogether, Energy Outreach served 38,289 households through its programs, including crisis intervention, community solar gardens and making homes more energy efficient. The organization’s money comes from donations, corporate partnerships with corporations and federal, state and local governments.

Donors include renewable energy companies Namaste Solar and Pivot Energy. In late 2023, Namaste’s monthlong Keep the Lights on Colorado campaign raised $50,000 from individual donors and corporate sponsors to provide 116 families with subscriptions to solar gardens. It was the fourth year the Boulder-based company has raised money for the subscriptions, which will cut families’ electric bills through credits for solar power.

Energy Outreach received $85,000 from Pivot Energy, a national solar power provider, in December to support its work electrifying households in Boulder County. The money will go to the organization’s Colorado Affordable Residential Energy program for heat pumps.

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Colorado

Two-alarm fire damages hotel in Estes Park, 1 person taken to a Colorado hospital

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Two-alarm fire damages hotel in Estes Park, 1 person taken to a Colorado hospital



A two-alarm fire damaged a hotel in Estes Park on Friday night. It happened at Expedition Lodge Estes Park just north of Lake Estes.

The lodge, located at 1701 North Lake Avenue on the east side of the Colorado mountain town, was evacuated after 8:30 p.m. and the fire chief said by 10 p.m. the fire was under control.

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One person was hurt and taken to a hospital.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. So far it’s not clear how much damage it caused.

A total of 25 firefighters fought the blaze.

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Warm storm delivers modest totals to Colorado’s northern mountains

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Warm storm delivers modest totals to Colorado’s northern mountains


Arapahoe Basin Ski Area recorded 8.5 inches of snow through Friday morning.
Lucas Herbert/Arapahoe Basin Ski Area

Friday morning wrapped up a warm storm across Colorado’s northern and central mountains, bringing totals of up to 10 inches of snowfall for several resorts.

Higher elevation areas of the northern mountains — particularly those in and near Summit County and closer to the Continental Divide — received the most amount of snow, with Copper, Winter Park and Breckenridge mountains seeing among the highest totals.

Meanwhile, lower base areas and valleys received rain and cloudy skies, thanks to a warmer storm with a snow line of roughly 9,000 feet.



Earlier this week, OpenSnow meteorologists predicted the storm’s snow totals would be around 5-10 inches, closely matching actual totals for the northern mountains. The central mountains all saw less than 5 inches of snow.

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Here’s how much snow fell between Wednesday through Friday morning for some Western Slope mountains, according to a Friday report from OpenSnow:



Aspen Mountain: 0.5 inches

Snowmass: 0.5 inches

Copper Mountain: 10 inches

Winter Park: 9 inches

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Breckenridge Ski Resort: 9 inches

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area: 8.5 inches

Keystone Resort: 8 inches

Loveland Ski Area: 7 inches

Vail Mountain: 7 inches

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Steamboat Resort: 6 inches

Beaver Creek: 6 inches

Irwin: 4.5 inches

Cooper Mountain: 4 inches

Sunlight: 0.5 inches

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Friday and Saturday will be dry, while Sunday will bring northern showers. The next storms are forecast to be around March 3-4 and March 6-7, both favoring the northern mountains.





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Avalanche discipline, power play falters, Central Division lead shrinks in 5-2 loss to Wild

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Avalanche discipline, power play falters, Central Division lead shrinks in 5-2 loss to Wild


The Colorado Avalanche had a chance Thursday night to regain some real separation between them and the Minnesota Wild.

It didn’t happen, and special teams were again an issue.

Minnesota’s Joel Eriksson Ek scored a pair of power-play goals, while the Avalanche took too many penalties and did not convert its chances with the extra man in a 5-2 loss at Ball Arena. The Wild scored on two of six power plays, both in the second period, then added a shorthanded goal into an empty net for good measure.

“We took six (penalties). Six is too many, especially against a power play like theirs,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “We had a slow start to the second and then just kind of started getting going, then took a bunch of penalties and kind of took the momentum away and swung it back in their favor again.”

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Mackenzie Blackwood was excellent early in this contest and stopped 31 of 34 shots for the Avs in his first start since the Olympic break. Colorado, which went 0-for-3 on the power play, has not scored an extra-man goal in back-to-back games since Dec. 31 and Jan. 3. The Avs are 2-for-31 with the man advantage since Jan. 16, and at 15.1% are last in the NHL.

The Wild are now just five points behind the Avs in the Central Division, though Colorado has two games in hand. Filip Gustavsson made 44 saves for the visitors.

“I think we crated enough chances to win the hockey game,” Bednar said. “We give up the (second power-play goal) and that’s the difference in the hockey game for me. We had a chance (on the power play) … we score and it’s a tie game. We haven’t had an easy time capitalizing on some of our chances that we created in the last month.

“I’d like to see that turn around a little bit.”

Minnesota took advantage of three penalties on Colorado in a span of 53 seconds to take the lead with 2:23 left in the second period. Captain Gabe Landeskog was sent to the box for elbowing Eriksson Ek away from the play at 14:15 and Valeri Nichushkin was called for cross-checking at 15:04.

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That gave the Wild a 5-on-3, but it went from bad to worse in a hurry for the home side. Brock Nelson won the 3-on-5 in his own end, but Brent Burns’ backhanded attempt to clear the puck out of the zone went into the stands for a delay of game.

Minnesota had a 5-on-3 for 1:56, which Colorado successfully killed off, but because Burns’ two minutes didn’t start until Landeskog’s penalty ended, there was more 5-on-4 time and Eriksson Ek scored his second of the night. The Swedish Olympian was trying to send a cross-crease pass to Kirill Kaprizov, but it hit the inside of Blackwood’s right leg and pinballed across the goal line.

Because of the extended penalty time, both Eriksson Ek and Boldy officially logged a shift of more than four minutes, leading to that goal.

“I’m not a big fan of the penalties we took, necessarily,” Landeskog said. “Obviously, mine is a penalty. Val, I felt like he was protecting himself and Burns, that’s a penalty. There’s nothing to argue about there. But yeah, that tilts the ice for sure and just gives them unnecessary momentum.

“So yeah, undisciplined and we’ve got to be better there for sure.”

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Eriksson Ek put Minnesota in front at 7:48 of the second period. Cale Makar was called for slashing when his one-handed swipe while Yakov Trenin was attempting to shoot from the left wing. Trenin’s stick broke, so Makar went to the box.

Blackwood made the initial save on Matt Boldy’s shot from the high slot, but Eriksson Ek was there near the left post to clean up the rebound.



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