Boulder, Xcel alter proposed franchise agreement ahead of public hearing

BOULDER — Boulder and Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE: XEL) announced this week a series of modest changes to a proposed franchise agreement that would end, at least temporarily, the city’s push to form a municipal power utility. 

The changes, according to a city news release, are as follows:

• The franchise opt-out provision based on specific climate goals has been modified to include all greenhouse gases as measured by carbon dioxide equivalents. The prior agreement referred only to carbon dioxide.
• Xcel Energy and the city also agree to allow the city council and/or Boulder voters up to 16 months to decide whether to exercise the greenhouse gas opt-out provision. The prior agreement only allowed for 30 days.
• All franchise opt-out provisions — both discretionary at the five-, 10-, and 15-year anniversaries, as well as the greenhouse gas emission standards — have been clarified.
• The settlement agreement has been modified to allow the city to use Xcel Energy’s distribution poles to implement a municipal broadband system, should the city choose to do so at a later date. The prior agreement made no provision for broadband connected to poles but did enable broadband in common underground trenches.
• Xcel Energy will allow the election process to proceed without its intervention directly in a campaign, including this fall’s election to approve the franchise or any election to terminate the franchise based on emissions targets in 2022.
• The partnership agreement has been modified for Boulder to receive reliability data using the System Average Interruption Duration Index and the System Average Interruption Frequency Index as well as other measures of reliability.

Boulder officials last month struck a deal with Xcel that sets the stage for the adoption of a new franchise agreement and for the city to suspend its decade-long quest to form a municipal utility.

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The settlement must first be approved by the Boulder City Council, then by voters in November. The city council will hold a public hearing during a special session Tuesday evening. 

On a related note, Boulder released a summary Wednesday of bids it has received as part of its earlier efforts to form a city-run utility. 

“The city received two bids that could fulfill all the power supply requirements of a local electric utility that would achieve the city’s 100% renewable electricity by 2030 target,” a Boulder news release said. “The city also received additional bids for individual solar, wind and battery storage projects that could supply a municipal electric utility or could be developed in partnership with Xcel Energy.”

Full responses to the city’s requests for proposal have not been released. 

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