I respect Eric Budd’s change of heart on Boulder’s journey to locally owned power but would urge him to review what we will lose should we stop now.
Xcel proposes a move to 55 percent renewable energy but it’s just that: a proposal. It’s unlikely to be realized, and even if it were we would only be half way to our goal. The more likely scenario is another 20 years with 70 percent of our electricity generated from fossil fuels. To suggest that this approach is to “move forward with a strong local strategy” misses the point that Xcel is a massive for-profit, investor-owned and managed company which is rewarded for building highly centralized power generation and is completely insulated from the volatility of fossil fuel prices because they pass those costs directly on to us.
I would urge Eric to remain focused on a future for Boulder that delivers on our commitment to 100 percent clean energy, keeps the $30 million of annual Xcel profits in our community, encourages our world-class entrepreneurs to pursue cost-saving energy innovations, flexible generation, demand-side management, efficiency measures for buildings and on-site storage.
The monopoly of the last 100 years has delivered electrification of the west but at great cost. The future of energy is local distributed generation, with its inherent stability to manage the impacts of extreme weather. To deny Boulder businesses the opportunity to innovate using a 21st-century intelligent energy grid, complete with a 21st-century fiber optic network alongside buried power lines, sends a very outdated message to a business community that strives to be on the cutting edge of sustainability.
I agree this journey is hard, but change always is, so lets remain excited by the opportunities and meet the challenges head on and vote yes on 2L.
Ian Harrison
Boulder
