Urgent: Save Boulder’s Bid for a Municipal Utility
This week could prove critical in determining Boulder’s energy future, and CEA needs your support.
Xcel Energy has launched a bid to stop Boulder’s 7-year effort toward municipalization in its tracks. One April 17th, the Boulder City Council considers two proposals from Xcel designed to dissuade us from our quest to control our own energy destiny.
Two days later, on April 19th, the Public Utilities Commission is holding an equally critical hearing on a motion to dismiss Boulder’s municipalization case outright.
We need your help to keep municipalization alive!
This is a critical moment for the future of independent municipal utilities in Colorado, so we ask not just Boulder residents but all Coloradans to step up to the plate.
Email the PUC at dora_PUC_complaints@state.co.us with your support for Boulder’s constitutional right to form a municipal utility. A few things to mention:
Communities should have a right to determine their energy future and should not be constrained by Xcel’s thinking and corporate constraints
Under the law of Colorado, Boulder has a constitutional right to form a municipal utility, and it is up to the Commission to protect that right, and make sure it means more than words in a statute book
At this defining moment in the history of our planet, we need more options than a profit-driven monopoly that remains dependent on fossil fuels for more than 70% of its power generation.
We also ask our supporters to contact the City Council at council@bouldercolorado.gov and tell them to stay the course! We encourage you to remind them that:
Boulder Energy Future has worked for seven years to build a realistic, reasonable alternative to continued partnership with Xcel.
Boulder voters have weighed in on this issue not once but several times. In ballot measures in 2011, 2013, and 2014 Boulder’s residents asserted their demand to control their own energy future.
The two deals proposed by Xcel are both unacceptable, and do not reflect the best interests or desires of the rate-payers of Boulder.
Most importantly, there is a Stay the Course Rally outside the Municipal Building at 1777 Broadway, Boulder CO 80302 from 5:00-6:00 pm before the City Council hearing on Monday April 17th. Please come and show your support for Boulder’s Energy Future and the municipalization effort. Wear green and bring signs or posters. A couple ideas for signs and poster slogans:
“STAY THE COURSE!”
“Just Say NO (To Xcel)!”
“Don’t Give Away Our Energy Future!”
Finally, we ask all of our supporters to be polite and respectful when communicating with the PUC and the City Council. We cannot overstate the importance of addressing our officials in a way that is clear and concise, and also gracious and polite.
Thank you for your support. Together we will make a difference!