1. (1) The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that, in order to serve the best interests of the citizens of Colorado and, in particular, to aid low-income citizens of Colorado, there is a need for an energy assistance program to collect an optional low-income energy assistance contribution from utility customers in Colorado.
2. (2) The general assembly further finds that the most efficient way to support such a program is for gas and electric utilities to provide the opportunity for each utility customer to contribute an optional amount on the customer's billing statement for low-income energy assistance that will be displayed monthly on the utility bill until the customer indicates otherwise and that the moneys collected shall be most economically and equitably disbursed through a system in which the contributions collected by electric utilities and gas utilities are transmitted to energy outreach Colorado.
3. (3) The general assembly further finds that, although municipal and special district water utilities are not regulated by the public utilities commission, allowing all water utilities to participate in a water assistance program on a voluntary basis will provide an efficient means for some water utilities to provide financial assistance to their customers in low-income households.

Source: L. 2005: Entire article added, p. 478, § 1, effective May 5. L. 2021: (3) added, (HB 21-1105), ch. 488, p. 3499, § 6, effective September 7.