Colorado's largest energy provider says it needs more money for upgrades to prevent the grid from causing wildfires. The money has to come from somewhere.

It's not official yet, but according to the Denver Post, Xcel Energy has been approved for an electric rate increase of $41.5 million.

That's going to mean about $1 more a month for residential customers and about $2 for small commercial customers.

It's hard to say how much our bills would have gone up if they'd been approved for the whopping $158 million they'd asked for.

Luckily, the state regulars said, 'Whoa, let's turn the thermostat down on that; what do you say?'

On Xcel's side, the last time they asked for an increase was in 2014, and they now have 80,000 more customers on their grid.

Get more on the increase from the Denver Post HERE.

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