Group hosts city energy talk in Gunbarrel

BOULDER – The Gunbarrel Energy Future Citizens Group is hosting a public meeting Thursday evening titled “What could a municipal electrical utility mean for Gunbarrel?”

As the city of Boulder continues to research the pros and cons of creating a municipally owned utility, city officials will be on hand from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church at 7077 Harvest Road to talk about municipalization and how it will impact Gunbarrel residents.

Andrew Barth, who works in media relations for the city of Boulder, said there would be officials from the city attorney’s office, the planning department and energy future department to address residents’ concerns and questions.

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While part of Gunbarrel lies within the Boulder city limits, much of it does not, meaning those residents didn’t get to vote in 2011 when Boulder voters approved a pair of measures that authorized the city to create a municipal utility and also allocated $1.9 million per year to study municipalization.

Those residents who didn’t get to vote on the matter likely would still be included in Boulder’s municipal utility service area because they are served by some of the six Xcel Energy substations that service the Boulder city limits. If Boulder does create a municipal utility, it would assume control of those substations.

Barth said other issues, such as whether Gunbarrel residents would be charged the same rates as city residents under the proposed municipal utility will also be discussed along with reliability issues.