NewEnergyNews: Guest Lead Post: A CITY AND A UTILITY IN THE CRAZY SEASON/

NewEnergyNews

Gleanings from the web and the world, condensed for convenience, illustrated for enlightenment, arranged for impact...

The challenge now: To make every day Earth Day.

YESTERDAY

THINGS-TO-THINK-ABOUT WEDNESDAY, August 23:

  • TTTA Wednesday-ORIGINAL REPORTING: The IRA And The New Energy Boom
  • TTTA Wednesday-ORIGINAL REPORTING: The IRA And the EV Revolution
  • THE DAY BEFORE

  • Weekend Video: Coming Ocean Current Collapse Could Up Climate Crisis
  • Weekend Video: Impacts Of The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current Collapse
  • Weekend Video: More Facts On The AMOC
  • THE DAY BEFORE THE DAY BEFORE

    WEEKEND VIDEOS, July 15-16:

  • Weekend Video: The Truth About China And The Climate Crisis
  • Weekend Video: Florida Insurance At The Climate Crisis Storm’s Eye
  • Weekend Video: The 9-1-1 On Rooftop Solar
  • THE DAY BEFORE THAT

    WEEKEND VIDEOS, July 8-9:

  • Weekend Video: Bill Nye Science Guy On The Climate Crisis
  • Weekend Video: The Changes Causing The Crisis
  • Weekend Video: A “Massive Global Solar Boom” Now
  • THE LAST DAY UP HERE

    WEEKEND VIDEOS, July 1-2:

  • The Global New Energy Boom Accelerates
  • Ukraine Faces The Climate Crisis While Fighting To Survive
  • Texas Heat And Politics Of Denial
  • --------------------------

    --------------------------

    Founding Editor Herman K. Trabish

    --------------------------

    --------------------------

    WEEKEND VIDEOS, June 17-18

  • Fixing The Power System
  • The Energy Storage Solution
  • New Energy Equity With Community Solar
  • Weekend Video: The Way Wind Can Help Win Wars
  • Weekend Video: New Support For Hydropower
  • Some details about NewEnergyNews and the man behind the curtain: Herman K. Trabish, Agua Dulce, CA., Doctor with my hands, Writer with my head, Student of New Energy and Human Experience with my heart

    email: herman@NewEnergyNews.net

    -------------------

    -------------------

      A tip of the NewEnergyNews cap to Phillip Garcia for crucial assistance in the design implementation of this site. Thanks, Phillip.

    -------------------

    Pay a visit to the HARRY BOYKOFF page at Basketball Reference, sponsored by NewEnergyNews and Oil In Their Blood.

  • ---------------
  • WEEKEND VIDEOS, August 24-26:
  • Happy One-Year Birthday, Inflation Reduction Act
  • The Virtual Power Plant Boom, Part 1
  • The Virtual Power Plant Boom, Part 2

    Tuesday, October 26, 2010

    Guest Lead Post: A CITY AND A UTILITY IN THE CRAZY SEASON

    Boulder's 2B means Progress on Clean Energy
    Anne B. Butterfield, October 25, 2010 (Huffington Post)

    Today’s guest lead post comes from columnist Anne B. Butterfield. She demonstrates that all politics remain local, even when an imminent election day makes for what the pundits call the “crazy” season. At the same time, she offers some insight into the universal way citizens relate to their local utilities.

    A world and subculture away from Anne’s Colorado high country, citizens of the City of Los Angeles are struggling with the Department of Water and Power (DWP), their municipal utility, and its efforts and failures at developing an energy plan like the one Anne writes about here. Can LA learn anything from Boulder? Can other cities?


    In mountaineering there's a land feature known as a saddle -- a high ridge between two or more peaks from which a climber can study options for ascent or descent. The saddle is not a destination but rather a strategic place for planning. It's worth the energy spent in reaching, especially if the route or conditions are uncertain.

    That's what Yes on 2B offers the City of Boulder. It allows Boulder to investigate real plans for its energy future and report back to voters in the next year or more. 2B is not an energy plan, but a mechanism to let the city have stable funding while being legally separate from Xcel Energy and its annual franchise fee amounting to about $4 million. 2B is therefore dubbed the "replacement tax."

    click to enlarge

    Here is how two City Councilors put it in the Daily Camera:

    “2B has the unanimous support of city council and its passage is critical. Simply put, if it fails the city will need to cut its General Fund budget by over $4 million per year. That will significantly reduce support for a wide variety of essential services, including police, human services, libraries, parks and recreation, and open space.”

    To help clarify some misconceptions about Issue 2B, here is what it will not do:

    - 2B will not affect Xcel`s provision of energy to Boulder customers in any way
    - 2B will not change your relationship with Xcel as your energy provider
    - 2B will not raise additional revenue for the city
    - 2B is technically a new tax, but it will not cost you extra money
    - 2B does not, in any way, imply support for replacing Xcel as the city`s energy provider
    - 2B does not, in any way, affect your control, as a voter, over the ultimate decision about how Boulder will meet its future energy needs.

    click to enlarge

    This "replacement of the franchise fee" could seem confusing, since a franchise fee itself is a strange creature. Why would any utility pay a city so much money rather than merely lower its utility bills? The tradition of franchise fees started as an inducement for the long term contract while giving the utility access to city property (like a lease). It was first paid out of the utility's earnings. Now utilities often collect and remit the fee directly from ratepayers. It's as if Xcel has morphed into being a taxing authority for the City, and this status will last to the end of this year when the franchise expires. 2B replaces that funding, allowing the city to provide familiar services with stable funding while exploring options for getting Boulder to a very high proportion of clean energy in the next several years.

    There's no reason to assume that Boulder should hang tight with Xcel Energy and wait for its supposedly excellent plans for decarbonization to pay off -- for in fact many challenges have come against the coal plant retirement plan known as HB 1365 or the Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act. Xcel has recently stated that fulfilling its own proposal to retire up to 900 megawatts of coal capacity will risk reliability and unreasonable cost impacts on customers. The state's health department has stated that Xcel's plan cannot meet the air improvement requirements of law.

    Look at what Colorado could do! (click to enlarge)

    On top of that, this month, the Colorado Mining Association filed a motion to block two of three Public Utilities commissioners from ruling on the $1.3 billion plan to close several coal plants. The charge is that Chairman Ron Binz and Matt Baker are embroiled in conflict of interest having clearly negotiated with Xcel Energy on the framework for cost recovery for the utility's plan to replace coal capacity with natural gas turbines. "The Commissioners have breached their duty to the people of Colorado by making a private deal with Xcel Energy (PSCo) to allow it to 'spend itself rich,'" the motion alleges.
    Xcel Energy defends its involvement by explaining that such negotiation is business as usual. But this time they're not saying it to powerless citizen intervenors, they're saying it to a major industry in the state.

    So the legal challenge may devolve into a battle of the titans with limitless legal resources (Xcel's being paid for by ratepayers), and it could drag on.

    Therefore it is truly fortuitous that Boulder's City Council chose not to renew its franchise agreement with Xcel, and can explore options for becoming a municipal utility or compelling Xcel to assist with legislative restraints and create for Boulder a unique business arrangement, such as it does with numerous major buyers in the state.

    Colorado has wind. (click to enlarge)

    Boulder has the company of many communities that are breaking away from business as usual for their energy supply. Marin County in California fought its state's mega-utility, PG&E, to retain its right to form its own utility and now is the nation's first to derive 75 percent of its energy from renewable sources, with rates lower than those charged for natural gas. Winterpark, Florida, broke loose of its investor-owned utility through a five year process strongly supported by voters, resulting in higher reliability. Gainesville, Florida and Ontario, Canada have instituted guaranteed rates to buy renewable power, causing rapid installation at low rates.

    These visions could be possible for Boulder, and they can be explored and vetted with no change in utility rates and no change in city services either, should 2B get passed by the voters. It's a good to get to a secure place where options can be thoroughly explored.

    Vote yes on 2B.

    0 Comments:

    Post a Comment

    << Home