How to Participate in a Proceeding

Opportunities for comment include workshops, informational meetings, community meetings, and public comment hearings. Some of these activities are led by agency staff, and others are led by Commissioners or Judges, and some are more formal than others. More general comments can be provided at any time without regard to whether the issue is currently pending.

There are several ways to learn about comment opportunities at the Commission:

• Sign up for the Commission’s email updates. This includes media advisories and notifications about public comment hearings, community meetings, and other events.
   
• Check the public calendar for upcoming events and ways to participate.
   
• Review our key proceedings page to see what kinds of cases are currently open for comment.
   
• Look at E-Filings for a particular proceeding. E-Filings is the Commission’s online system for managing filings in proceedings. You can search for individual proceedings or documents, or subscribe for email updates.

You can provide comments in a proceeding any time it is open, but comments should be submitted before the evidentiary hearing in the proceeding is complete in order to receive full consideration. Evidentiary hearings are added to the public calendar after they are scheduled.

The Commission treats public comments with the same weight regardless of how they are provided.

Please let us know which proceeding you are commenting on. The best way to do this is to include a proceeding number, which looks like “Proceeding 21A-0625EG.” This helps us know which proceeding to file your comment in so that it can be considered by decision-makers. If you have questions about how to find a proceeding number, please contact Gail Conners or include as much information as you can about the proceeding in your comment, such as letting us know the utility or issue you are concerned with.

Comments are public documents and will be filed with all of the information you include in the comment. Please be sure to remove any personal information that you do not want to be public before you submit. The Commission cannot accept anonymous or vulgar comments.

Comments can be submitted in a variety of ways:

• Via the Commission’s online form
   
• By email at dora_puc_website@state.co.us
   
• By mail to the Commission’s offices at: Colorado Public Utilities Commission, 1560 Broadway, Suite 250, Denver, CO 80202
   
• By phone at any time by calling (303) 869-3490 and leaving a voicemail. Verbal comments can be provided in English and Spanish.
   
• Verbal comments can also be provided at public comment hearings. Public comment hearings are not scheduled for all proceedings. You can provide comments for a proceeding using all of the other methods above regardless of whether there is a public comment hearing.

The Commission can accept written or verbal comments in any language. Comments will be translated and included in the appropriate proceedings. To make a request for an interpreter at a public comment hearing, or to ask for a document to be translated, please use the Language Access Form.

If you would like to share public comments in American Sign Language by video, please contact Holly Bise (holly.bise@state.co.us).

The Commission reads your comments and may take them into consideration when it weighs evidence in a proceeding to make a decision. The Commission does not count comments for or against an issue—it is required to balance many different viewpoints, and to ensure its decisions are based on sound factual evidence and comply with state and federal laws. Comments can be general and academic, or can be very specific, such as suggesting that a procedural action be taken in a proceeding or that particular questions be asked of a witness during the evidentiary hearing. The most effective comments include specific information about the issues before the Commission, or how those issues will impact you or your community.

Public comment hearings are not held for every case, but they are open to any interested participants. In contrast, evidentiary hearings are limited to formal parties in a case—members of the public can view them but not participate in them.

Public comment hearings are legal proceedings that are run by Commissioners or Administrative Law Judges, and comments are transcribed by a court reporter. Hearings may be in-person, remote, or hybrid. When you are called on to speak, you will be asked to state and spell your name. Individuals who wish to speak may have 2-3 minutes, but this can be longer depending on attendance and at the discretion of the hearing officer.

Public comment hearings are one way that decision-makers can hear from you. However, because many public comment hearings are about ongoing legal proceedings, Commissioners and Judges generally cannot engage with the public or discuss the merits of the proceeding.

While we are unable to advise you on how to represent your interest in proceedings, we can help you understand your options to participate at the Commission. You can learn more about options beyond submitting public comments in the Guide to Public Participation, available in English and Spanish. Parties or amicus in proceedings should participate through that venue, rather than by providing public comments.

Residential, small business, and agricultural customers are represented by the Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate (UCA) in many proceedings before the Commission. You can learn more about UCA here.

For questions about E-Filings, contact Alison Torvik, Data Manager.