If you’ve noticed your electric bill creeps higher with the thermostat each summer, it’s partly because Colorado utility companies can charge a higher rate during those months. “It’s a punitive rate. We like to call it the air conditioning tax,” said Sen. Ray Scott, a Grand Junction Republican. “Basically your rate doubles.” Scott wants to put an end to the practice, so he’s co-sponsoring a bill with Senate President Leroy Garcia, D-Pueblo, that would direct electric companies to essentially get rid of the two-tiered system by June 2020.