Boulder’s energy future is being decided right now – and community involvement in the decision-making process is crucial. Xcel’s 20-year franchise agreement with the City of Boulder is set to expire on August 3rd, 2010. With negotiations underway between the Boulder City Council, Xcel, and a team of energy professionals from the Boulder community, the most important objective is a cost-effective decarbonization of Boulder and an increase in the availability of renewables such as wind and solar. With these goals in mind, there are a number of options that exist, including: putting a new 20-year franchise with Xcel on the November ballot, extending the current franchise agreement and continuing negotiations with Xcel, or not signing a new franchise agreement at all and considering options such as municipalization.
The Boulder City Council is inviting the larger community to a series of open houses this Monday and next Tuesday (see schedules here and here) to discuss our energy future and to encourage public participation in the decision-making process as the current Xcel franchise expires. The voice of the community and their vision for the future of energy production are incredibly important and will have a large impact on how the Boulder City Council decides to move forward in negotiations with Xcel and the pursuit of a clean and safe energy future for Boulder.
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