Xcel, Boulder charge ahead on EVs after vote

BOULDER — When Boulder voters in November approved new 20-year franchise and partnership agreements with Xcel Energy that put the city’s efforts to form its own municipal electric utility on hold, the promotion of electric vehicles was prominent in the mix. Just how enthusiastic Boulder residents are to hop aboard the EV bandwagon should become more evident this spring when the first Energy Partnership Advisory Panel meets.

Click here to view the settlement agreement.

Applications are being taken through Feb. 26 for the panel. According to a news release from the city, “The city manager, in coordination with Xcel Energy, will select up to 15 community members, with a focus on ensuring a representation of the broad energy interests in the Boulder community, including homeowners, renters, large and small commercial customers, the University of Colorado and other key stakeholders. Applicants need not be experts in energy or technology; the city and Xcel Energy are seeking participation from voices who can bring their perspective as Xcel Energy customers and Boulder community members.” The panel, according to the release, “will review project proposals, gather perspectives on community impacts and make recommendations to the partnership’s Project Oversight team.”

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The bottom-line aim of the agreements is what drove the decade-long push for “municipalization” in the first place: Boulder’s aim to be powered by 100% renewable energy by 2030. In terms of electric vehicles, the partnership agreement calls for joint efforts between the city and the utility to facilitate installation of more EV charging stations, electrification of the city’s fleet and school buses, and creation of a system to handle increased EV penetration.

Voters in November also passed a funding measure that will redirect approximately $2 million that previously had supported the municipalization drive; it now will support the partnership instead, paying for projects and pilot programs to address the city’s climate and energy goals.

What develops from the joint venture to promote use of electric vehicles may be a larger version of Xcel’s efforts in partnership with the town of Breckenridge. The partnership provided money and technical support to double the town’s EV charging stations — from 11 to 22.

Xcel’s efforts in Boulder, although certainly aimed at heading off the city’s municipalization efforts, also conform to the company’s broader vision of powering 1.5 million electric vehicles and reducing carbon emissions by 80% in its service area by 2030 and providing its customers with 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050.

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission in December approved Xcel Energy’s Transportation Electrification Plan, which will allow the company to build and support more charging stations; provide support for electrifying government, business and school district fleets; and offer incentives to homeowners to install charging equipment. Commissioners put the brakes on an EV rebate proposal, however.

“As drivers, ride-share companies, public transit and other fleet operators replace vehicles with EVs, they will see substantial savings on fuel because driving electric is equal to spending about $1 per gallon of gas and can be significantly less when charging overnight,” according to an Xcel news release. “By 2030, an EV would cost $700 less per year to fuel than a gas-powered car, saving customers $1 billion annually.”

EV advocates hoped also to get a boost from the omnibus 2021 spending bill passed by Congress in December, but were disappointed. The bill authorized the launch of Department of Energy studies into recycling EV batteries and integrating the vehicles into the grid to improve reliability. However, it failed to extend a $7,500 tax credit for EV buyers that ended when Tesla and General Motors sold more than 200,000 EVs in the United States, exceeding the tax-credit cap for those brands. The bill also cut $1.9 billion in Department of Energy loan authority for manufacture of advanced vehicles.

Xcel Energy-Colorado president Alice Jackson reiterated the company’s pitch for EVs in early January as local officials gathered virtually for Commuting Solutions’ 12th annual Legislative Breakfast. “We have to make sure it’s accessible to everyone,” she said of electric-vehicle transportation.

Gov. Jared Polis injected a note of caution, however, noting that as EVs, which use far less fuel than traditional cars and trucks, become more common, it reduces funding for road projects, which are mainly paid for using gas taxes.

“It’s a good thing that vehicles are more efficient,” Polis said, “but the problem is they still use the roads.”

BizWest reporter Lucas High contributed to this report.

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