This past August I posted a diary in which I described Boulder's bold and successful effort to take charge of its energy future by breaking free of the monopoly utility, Xcel Energy. That was when our City Council, on staff recommendation, backed by sustained citizen involvement, voted to NOT renew the 20 year contract (a franchise agreement) with Xcel.
This was a courageous and risky move because it put in jeopardy the franchise fee collected by Xcel for the City. The revenue to the City is about $4 million annually.
Last night citizens of Boulder stepped up big time and did their part voting strongly in favor of a replacement tax for the franchise fee. Now Boulder is no longer bound to Xcel AND we will have a replacement tax, still collected by Xcel, that ensures our city services are not negatively impacted.
Now Boulder can determine it's energy future without being held back by the conflicted powers that be.
As the Boulder Daily Camera reports:
The measure will keep revenue from Xcel flowing into Boulder's budget through 2015, giving the city time to study alternative sources of energy. Options could include taking municipal control of the city's supply of electricity, or working with Xcel on a new franchise agreement that includes more renewable sources.
"It's really a blessing," City Manager Jane Brautigam said of the measure's apparent approval. <snip> Brautigam praised the volunteers who worked to campaign in support of the measure.
One of those people is Julie Zahniser, who coordinated the campaign. She said it now becomes important for Boulder residents to get involved in the discussion about the city's energy future.
"People are going to need to be involved in the next decisions," she said. "It's an exciting opportunity we have here."
To provide you with an excellent overview of the whole process and where we go from here, I've borrowed heavily from the campaign's website. - www.renewablesyes.org You'll notice that I've edited in a few places to account for the fact that... WE WON!!!:
The City Council and a team of energy experts and involved citizens have begun exploring ways to supply more renewable energy for Boulder residents and businesses, both to reduce our impact on the environment and to help ensure long-term price stability as fossil fuel costs escalate. Experienced energy and service companies have already committed both time and money to work with us.
Experienced energy companies want to COMPETE for a share of Boulder's electricity business! Yes on 2B (diarist's note: 2B was the ballot measure that passed yesterday) simply replaces the franchise fee now on our electric bill with an equivalent 5-year tax, so that Boulder can explore ALL possible ways to ramp up efficency and renewable energy, while keeping City revenues for services intact.
Competitors are spending serious time and money to plan a new electric system for Boulder, bringing reality to an aggressive goal of 50% renewables by 2015 and more later. This gives all suppliers motivation to compete.
Governments and corporations have not done enough. YES on 2B frees us HAS FREED US to carefully evaluate the costs and benefits of all proposals from Xcel and its competitors for fair negotiations to get Boulder's best deal.
Same cost, different name, no strings attached. YES on 2B cuts through our dependence on franchise fees. The replacement tax is only collected when a franchise fee isn't. It keeps City revenue for essential services like fire stations and libraries OUT of negotiations.
2B is a necessary step to get to where we can stand firm while we carefully negotiate a fair Xcel franchise contract that is committed to clean energy and compare it to other competitors' clean energy proposals.
2B is about keeping our options open! It is not a choice between Xcel and municipalization or anything else. All this initiative does is to provide the City with a replacement for the franchise fee in case Xcel refuses to keep collecting this fee from rate payers. The steps beyond this are up to council with input and approval from the voters. We will only be in a position to get a good deal from Xcel, once 2B is passed. To get a good deal requires real negotiations without financial pressure and with the possibility of competition.
YES on 2B lets Boulder negotiate for a rapid increase in renewable energy at competitive prices.
Competition can help create new local jobs, attract investment, and Boulder leads again in innovative energy technology, while still protecting rates and increasing our use of efficiency and renewable energy!
A key goal of those involved in this campaign is to blaze a path that others can follow. We were adamant that Boulder not use any special privileges to pursue a path that only Boulder could take. If you want your city or municipality to have the freedom that Boulder has given itself, then learn whether you too are in a franchise agreement with a utility and make damn sure your muni doesn't re-sign it when it comes up for renewal. Study the examples of Marin County and Winter Park, Florida. These examples were critically important for Boulder activists to point to when we first began our efforts to convince city staff and elected officials to consider rejecting the franchise agreement.
Isn't it amazing that the putative People's Republic of Boulder is actually a rare bastion of free and fair markets?
Thank you Boulder, Marin County and Winter Park, Fl.!!!