What’s next for Xcel and Boulder?
Now that voters have agreed to put Boulder’s city- run electric utility on hold and enter into a 20- year franchise agreement with Xcel Energy, it’s time for city staff to get to work.
Moving forward entails a lot of organization, both in terms of archiving a decade’s worth of information from Boulder’s municipalization in such a way that it could be continued in the future as well as beginning an official partnership with Xcel to help the city achieve its goal of 100% renewable electricity by 2030.
The franchise agreement also must be approved by state regulators. Once the election results are certified, the agreement will go to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. Boulder expects official approval by early 2021.
Regarding organizing the muni information, Director of Climate Initiatives Steve Catanach said Boulder’s in a good place.
“We’re really at a point where we can stop that and archive it. If we needed to pick it up again in the future we could do that,” he said.
The franchise agreement offers six exit opportunities, three for any reason and three if Xcel is not meeting certain benchmarks. Opting out would require a six- person vote of the Boulder City Council or a majority vote of Boulder voters, according to the city.
Concerning partnering with Xcel, the agreement essentially forms three groups: an executive team, a project team and a community advisory group. The executive side, composed of representatives from Xcel Energy as well as Boulder’s city manager and others designated by the city, will serve as an oversight committee.
The project team will evaluate potential projects, including ones that involve microgrid planning, adding more renewables and accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles, and will work with the community advisory group to select projects amenable to Boulder residents.
“We haven’t completely decided how to go about doing that but we certainly … want a high level of community engagement,” Catanach said.
With voter approval of the Xcel franchise agreement, Boulder will release the condemnation cases that are on stay in Boulder District Court. Boulder had hoped to condemn the Xcel Energy assets that would have been necessary when forming its own electric utility, and city officials planned to continue on that path if the franchise failed.
Two months ago, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission dismissed Boulder’s request for interconnection at Xcel Energy’s substations because the city does not own or expect to own the facilities to which it sought to connect.
“That’s not outstanding anymore,” Catanach said.
The city maintains that it never preferred municipalization or a franchise agreement. Spokesperson Emily Sandoval said Boulder’s energy future “has always been about what the community wanted.”
“We were always agnostic to ( municipalization),” Sandoval said. “What really guided us were our energy goals.”
Catanach agreed, though he views the Xcel settlement as a win for both parties and said the agreement even bodes well for municipalization should Boulder continue down that path one day. It allows innovation to happen immediately, Catanach said, and he’s particularly grateful that voters also approved the extension and repurposing of the utility occupation tax, which had been used for Boulder’s muni efforts and now can be spent on projects and initiatives that support the city’s clean energy and equity goals.
“That really provides us an avenue and support for doing these innovative projects, which is just critical in my mind,” he said.
Mayor Sam Weaver acknowledged in a news release that community members have varied positions on the matter. With 53% of the vote, the franchise agreement had the tightest margins of the five Boulder ballot initiatives.
“We appreciate the passionate efforts on both sides of this issue and recognize that while many in our community celebrate, others are disappointed,” he stated in the release.
“Climate and energy issues are urgent and difficult to face divided, and I hope that we can come together as a community to face challenges and seize opportunities.”