Municipal Utility Unclaimed Utility Deposit Program
Summary
Senate Bill 25-068 makes a narrow change to Colorado’s unclaimed utility deposits law by allowing municipally owned utilities to opt into the state’s unclaimed utility deposits program. Under current law, Article 8.5 generally applies to electric and gas utilities and certain cooperative electric associations that elect coverage, but municipally owned utilities are excluded. The bill keeps that exclusion as the default rule, while creating an exception that lets a municipally owned utility voluntarily participate.
If a municipally owned utility chooses to participate, it may send unclaimed deposits either to the commission-designated state fund or to a fund designated by its own governing body, so long as the local fund is used to accomplish the goals of the article. The bill also requires a municipally owned utility to define unclaimed deposits consistently with the statute’s definition of “unclaimed moneys.” In effect, the bill gives municipal utilities flexibility to align their handling of abandoned customer deposits with the state framework or a local equivalent.
Impact
The bill amends Colorado Revised Statutes sections 40-8.5-102, 40-8.5-103, and 40-8.5-106. It preserves the general exemption for municipally owned utilities from Article 8.5, but adds a voluntary election mechanism and related definitions for those utilities that choose to participate. The practical impact is limited to municipal electric and gas utilities and their customers, affecting how unclaimed utility deposits are held, transferred, and used. It does not mandate participation or change the rules for investor-owned utilities or cooperative electric associations that do not elect coverage.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been broadly noncontroversial and received strong support throughout the legislative process. It passed the Senate committee and Senate floor unanimously, advanced through the House Energy & Environment Committee unanimously, and passed the House floor with only one dissenting vote. The final Senate concurrence on the House amendments was also unanimous. The voting pattern suggests general agreement that the bill is a modest, technical, and permissive change rather than a major policy shift.
Contention
There is little evidence of substantive opposition in the available record. The only notable point of policy choice is whether municipally owned utilities should remain fully outside the unclaimed deposits program or be allowed to opt in voluntarily. The bill resolves that issue by preserving the default exemption while giving local utilities discretion to participate and to use either the state fund or a locally designated fund. Any disagreement appears minimal, as reflected by the overwhelmingly favorable votes and the lack of recorded committee debate in the provided materials.