There is Value in Listening...Well, at Least Some Times

I took some time off this past week which afforded me a chance to relax and reflect on a few things, which I promptly chose not to do.  Anyway, my wife pointed out on several occasions “that I never listen.” It took a few iterations of this comment to sink in because I clearly wasn’t listening, but that did get me thinking.  This whole fracture that has occurred between the City of Boulder and Xcel Energy really boils down to listening and hearing each other out.

Here you have two incredibly innovative and forward thinking organizations. Boulder is a city that takes climate action extremely seriously.  The city has a comprehensive plan around managing Energy, Resources, and the Ecosystem. For cities that want to look a great template look here: https://bouldercolorado.gov/climate, pretty cool stuff. 

Xcel energy is a utility that is nationally recognized as a leader in energy efficiency, Xcel Energy is among the top five U.S. utilities for energy efficiency saving and renewable energy sales, according to the 2014 Ceres report "Benchmarking Utility Clean Energy.” They also take renewable energy seriously, point in case, Xcel Energy just announced that they want to build a $1 billion wind farm in CO that spans 90,000 acres and would produce 600 megawatts of electricity.  Want to start getting off coal? Well that’s how you start doing it.

Both organizations are clearly focused on sustainability and green energy.  Yet, we’ve wasted a ton of money (estimated at $10.4 million) to date. Now the two sides are back at the table in an effort to stop the ongoing litigation that would end the city's push to form a municipal electric utility.

Really, when you boil it down, the City of Boulder wanted a say in their energy landscape.  Much of what the city wants is also in-line with the objectives of a progressive utility like Xcel Energy.  Just kind of makes you wonder if we could have saved a lot of time and money over the past 5 years if both sides had just listened a little better.