Trinidad schedules February hearings on proposed electric and gas rate hikes

Trinidad City Council moved this month to send proposed electric and gas rate ordinances to public hearings in February, setting up a process that could alter utility bills for households and businesses across Las Animas County.

At its Jan. 20 meeting, staff presented updated revenue and usage figures and the council advanced two utility rate ordinances to February public hearings. The council also amended an existing electric rate ordinance that traces to an ordinance adopted in February 2025 following the city’s first comprehensive rate study in 20 years. That February 2025 ordinance originally scheduled a 7.5 percent commercial increase and a 4 percent residential increase to take effect March 1, 2026.

City Manager Tara Marshall explained that the February 2025 ordinance grew out of the long-awaited rate study. After a Jan. 12 work session, a council majority directed staff to amend the ordinance to reduce the commercial increase to 4 percent, matching the residential increase. The council introduced the amended electric ordinance on first reading and scheduled a public hearing for Feb. 17.

The immediate local impact is straightforward: the amendment narrows the gap between commercial and residential electric rate increases, potentially easing the near-term cost pressure on Trinidad businesses that would have faced a 7.5 percent rise. For residential customers, the 4 percent figure remains the baseline that the council has worked from. Whether the amended ordinance or the gas proposal will change the originally scheduled March 1, 2026 effective date is not stated in the materials presented at the meeting.

What city records provided at the meeting do not include are the detailed revenue and usage figures staff cited when advancing the ordinances, and the public materials supplied so far contain no numeric proposals or effective dates for the gas rate ordinance. No councilmember names or vote tallies were supplied in the excerpts available, and the city has not publicly released the full staff report or the updated figures referenced at the Jan. 20 meeting.

The February hearings are the next formal opportunity for residents and business owners to weigh in. Residents who want to track changes to expected utility bills should confirm public hearing logistics with the city clerk, review the amended electric ordinance and any gas-rate proposals once they are posted, and request the staff presentation that contains the updated revenue and usage figures.

Final action on the ordinances will follow the public hearings. For Trinidad ratepayers, the hearings will determine whether the city enacts the amended commercial increase set to match the residential 4 percent increase and will clarify what, if anything, changes for gas customers. The council’s decisions in February will shape utility revenue and local rate pressures heading into spring.