Boulder, Xcel must work to achieve decarbonization

A message from the board of Boulder Tomorrow to the Boulder City Council:

We were greatly encouraged to hear that representatives from the city of Boulder and Xcel Energy have recently agreed to work together on a clean-energy plan to meet our collective climate change goals. Both the city of Boulder and Xcel Energy have a strong focus on the importance of renewable energy, efficiency and other programs that can help to reduce our carbon emissions, and by working together we can achieve our clean-energy goals faster and in a way that will impact a larger number of people.

Following several years investigating the possibility of forming a municipal utility to achieve the city’s climate-change goals, we have been inspired to see Xcel focus on developing more clean-energy choices that customers in Boulder and around the country are demanding. Through working together to bring these choices beyond the city limits and across the state, Boulder and Xcel can share a great success story of helping to make cleaner energy available to millions.

We are compelled to reiterate and add to the community conversation a few key stats from Xcel’s most recent corporate social-responsibility report. Significant progress on clean-energy sourcing and provision show that Xcel is on track to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 30 percent by 2020 and has cut water consumption by 30 percent at its operations. In addition, the report states, “In 2015, carbon-free energy sources made up 34 percent of Xcel Energy’s electricity supply and the company plans to grow its carbon-free energy sources to 43 percent by 2020. As the nation’s No. 1 utility wind-energy provider for 12 consecutive years, Xcel Energy added four new wind farms in 2015, increasing its wind capacity 15 percent. The company expects wind to make up 24 percent of its electricity supply by 2020. Xcel Energy also expects to triple the solar energy on its system by 2020.”

These numbers are especially significant for a utility that serves millions of customers across eight states, and we can only expect to see the pace of renewable-energy adoption increase as the cost curves for solar, storage and wind continue to come down. For example, Xcel recently proposed the new $1 billion Rush Creek Wind Farm project, which would add enough clean power for 180,000 homes.

In addition to this focus on rapid adoption of existing clean-energy technologies, Xcel recently has partnered with just two other utilities in the country to launch an investment fund called Energy Impact Partners focused on supporting innovative clean-energy entrepreneurs. This commitment to funding innovation in the energy industry shows the company’s focus on creating a cleaner, more flexible and resilient electric grid for the future.

Boulder also has recently increased the city’s focus on innovation for the energy industry, through launching programs such as the Boulder Energy Challenge and participating in workshops such as the Rocky Mountain Institute’s eLab Accelerator. Through further connecting with local energy-innovation partners such as the Colorado Cleantech Industry Association, the Innovation Center of the Rockies and Innosphere, along with the many national labs and entrepreneurs in the area, the city can help to promote additional flexibility on the grid. Programs supporting electric vehicles, solar, storage, and more all would add tremendous benefit to our community’s power system.

All of this is meant to emphasize the pragmatic rationale for partnering with Xcel, not spending years suing it.

We are fortunate to have a progressive partner as our local power provider, and we look forward to seeing the details of the clean-energy plan that could serve as a model for other communities around the state and country who also are focused on the challenge of climate change. Together, we can achieve our clean-energy goals faster and in a way that will impact millions of people.

Keep at the constructive negotiations, and congratulations on what your recent announcement implies as valuable progress.

Dan Powers is executive director of the nonprofit Boulder Tomorrow board of directors.

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