Boulder Should Put the Muni Concept Back to Voters

Below is a letter I wrote to Boulder City Council as the unexpected (but very welcome) option to settle out of court with Xcel Energy regarding a clean energy paradigm for Boulder is now on the table. Read more of that here.

I also was number 47 of more than 80 members of the public who signed up to speak. There remains in my opinion a clear gap between the vision of those supporting the status quo pursuit of a Boulder divorce from Xcel and the realities of what is technically achievable, what Xcel has and is doing, what legally Boulder simply cannot do no matter how may times you ask, and the big disconnect: a philosophical opposition to monopoly utilities. In the cloud of what is wrong with "profits", ANY amount of coal burning, and assertions of what would be perfect, therefore righteous, therefore non-negotiable, therefore Boulder's necessary position - we have many people demanding we get the perfect instead of what I see (after ten years involved with this) as the really, really good. While we spend money on lawyers arguing for the perfect, nothing actually gets greener from Boulder while Xcel, at scale, makes dramatic steps.

Sure, you can lament aspects of their business model, but what I've seen is Boulder spending $15 million in taxes, tilting at windmills, pun intended, while Xcel actually brings them onto the grid.

April 17, 2017

To: Boulder City Council

Re: Municipalization Options & Possible Ballot Measures

Dear Boulder City Council,

We enthusiastically support the option you are considering to pause the pursuit of municipalizing the city’s electric utility and placing alternatives before the voters on November’s ballot. 

It is no small effort that Boulder has made in researching a municipal utility; years and years of staff time, thousands of volunteer hours, plus millions upon millions of dollars – yet we have failed to secure any meaningful legal permissions and appear to be on the brink of an outright rejection by the Colorado Public Utility Commission. 

In the last 5 years, I’ve watched Xcel Energy’s carbon emissions drop both in Colorado and across their multi-state system. I’ve learned how they integrate more wind into their system than any other utility using super-efficient detail from the National Center for Atmospheric Research and wind turbine research from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Doubters need to look into the detailed impacts at scale their system is achieving. 

Last year I spent four months participating in the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Energy Executive Program. This deep dive into the latest in clean energy technology provided a national and global perspective on challenges, successes and the trending opportunities for decarbonizing our energy system. It became quite noticeable to me that there was no overt recommendation, nor really any opinion at all, amongst the brilliant scientists at that lab indicating that municipalizing a city of 100,000 people’s utility was a tactic to prioritize. 

Indeed, activities at scale are what are showing real impact. The proposed ballot measure before you regarding a partnership with Xcel includes tangible targets; more so it provides a pragmatic path that can combine various Boulder brainstorms within the context of Xcel’s actual systemic decarbonization efforts. 

Given the narrow gap of previous votes on this topic, the unlikely PUC approval and the lack of significant decarbonization on the city’s part despite millions spent, giving this option to the voters is absolutely defensible. It is ethically the right thing to do. And showing this flexibility borne of the latest information is true leadership we all want to see in our City Council. 

I know you have voices demanding you stay the course, in essence gamble that the PUC’s foreshadowing is a bluff. But there is a line somewhere between stubborn, principled vision and myopic hubris. I believe the City is on that line right now. As many new facts and details have come to light over the last several years, sometimes the original “what would be nice” vision has to compromise with what is actually happening and what is truly possible. Changing tactics towards cleaner energy borne of such insight is where we look to see your leadership. We can be counted on to support you on a step towards partnership with Xcel Energy and dropping more years of litigation at taxpayer expense. 

Please give Boulder’s voters the chance again to decide which path they want to take to truly greener energy. I am sincerely ready to help make a new agreement with Xcel measurable, accountable and impactful. 

Thank you for considering these ideas,

Dan Powers

Executive Director

Boulder Tomorrow

720-222-9602

[email protected]

About Boulder Tomorrow: We are a 20-yr old, non-profit organization providing research, policy statements and events highlighting the positive impacts of Boulder's businesses and how our members are shaping what Boulder will look like Tomorrow. Read more at www.BoulderTomorrow.com.