Posts tagged franchise agreement
Boulder Xcel deal falls apart: condition ends talks about possible wind deal
Jul 15th
Several weeks of intensive and committed negotiations with Xcel Energy about the possibility of a wind purchase plan with Boulder ended this week, when Xcel refused to drop a condition that City Council agree to put a 20-year franchise on the ballot in November, without a corresponding wind agreement.
Xcel wanted City Council to put both the franchise paired with a wind deal and the franchise by itself on the ballot. City staff had been working with Xcel to develop a proposal for council that could have included the franchise if it were paired with the increase in renewable energy that was associated with the possible wind agreement.
City staff advised Xcel multiple times that council support for a standalone franchise was unlikely. During each of these conversations, the utility’s representatives indicated they wanted to keep negotiating and take that issue “under advisement” later. On Tuesday, July 12, Xcel communicated a final determination that it would not agree to a wind deal at all if the standalone franchise was not a part of the proposal to council.
The city’s energy future goals include stable rates, more local control and a decreased carbon footprint. While the franchise paired with significantly increased renewable wind energy would have moved toward some of these goals, the franchise by itself does not.
Since then, Xcel Energy has continued to provide electricity to homes and businesses in the city without a franchise agreement, as required by state law. The city, meanwhile, has worked to define the community’s goals for its energy future and analyze a variety of paths for achieving them. One of these has been the possible creation of a municipally owned power utility.
In late May, Xcel outlined a proposal that could help the community achieve some of its goals without creating its own utility. The proposal involved the city paying increased initial costs associated with the construction of a new wind farm in eastern Colorado. The turbines would have put 200 megawatts of new wind power onto the state’s grid. Boulder, in return for its investment, would purchase the Renewable Energy Credits. While the city was interested in exploring a wind agreement, both the staff team and council members had significant concerns about the proposal. Among them was the level of financial risk the city would assume in this venture. Representatives of the city, Xcel Energy and wind developer NextEra Energy Resources began negotiations in hopes of resolving these concerns.
Many of the questions were addressed; however, Xcel’s insistence on a standalone franchise ballot option has brought the discussions to an end.
“The City of Boulder understands why Xcel Energy wants a 20-year franchise agreement, and it is possible that council and voters might have approved that, if such an agreement came with a well-negotiated wind purchase plan,” said City Manager Jane Brautigam. “But we know that a franchise by itself would tie the city to a long-term energy future that remains largely dependent on investments in coal and a business model that prevents local communities from making decisions about their own energy futures. This runs contrary to the goals Boulder wants to achieve.”
City Attorney Tom Carr said the city appreciates Xcel and NextEra’s interest and work on the proposal, but that successful passage of this option, given the utility’s demand, was unlikely.
“We spent many hours at the table, and it was clear that all the parties were committed to trying to reach a mutually acceptable agreement,” Carr said. “I thank everyone for their participation, but sometimes there are problems for which there are no solutions. This appears to be an obstacle we could not overcome.”
Carr plans to provide a written update on the status of the wind negotiations as part of a memo that council members will receive prior to their July 19 meeting. He will also give a brief verbal presentation on July 19 under a section of the meeting called Matters from the City Attorney, which typically occurs near the end of the evening. A public hearing on other energy options will proceed as planned. Because the staff team does not believe that it can make a good faith recommendation that council consider a standalone franchise, and because Xcel has said it will not move forward without one, the wind proposal will not be a part of that hearing.
The full memo to council will be available at http://www.boulderenergyfuture.com before Tuesday’s council meeting. Additional information and previous memos are available at that same website now.
City staff recommends that voters be asked to support a local power utility
Jul 15th
City Manager Jane S. Brautigam
Brautigam also said she is confident that the process following a vote for municipalization will provide adequate opportunities to address concerns raised by some that the cost of purchasing the system from the current provider, Xcel, could exceed current estimates.
A positive vote is required before the city can enter into acquisition negotiations and/or condemnation proceedings. During this process, the city would determine what the final price would be. If the costs of buying Xcel’s system turned out to be significantly higher than anticipated or would result in rate increases that were unacceptable to the community, council would be under no obligation to issue the bonds necessary to pay for buying the system and launching a utility. The city could then re-consider how to proceed.
“There are off-ramps in place that allow the city to move forward with its eyes wide open,” the city manager said. “Our community has spelled out both its goals and its expectations. City staff and elected officials take the responsibility of balancing these very seriously.”
The recommendation follows more than two years of discussions about whether to enter into another 20-year franchise agreement with Xcel Energy. In 2010, City Council rejected that option, determining that a business-as-usual contract for two decades was too long and would limit Boulder’s ability to take advantage of exciting changes in the energy industry. Since then, the city and the community have been involved in an intensive study and discussion of other options.
The Boulder community has set clear energy future goals. These include cleaner energy, with as much local generation as possible; reliability; rate stability and more local decision-making and control.
The city hired industry specialists to conduct a detailed financial assessment of the possible creation of a local utility. They have concluded that Boulder could buy the system from Xcel, pay off the debt associated with those costs, start a utility and operate it reliably while still making money. The local utility would be able to keep customers rates lower or equal to what they would be under Xcel, maintain emergency reserves and still have a net present value of $112 million over 10 years. The cost model developed by the consultants has some room for increased costs. This flexibility is spelled out in more detail in a staff memo to council.
The staff recommendation also includes support for an increase and extension of the Climate Action Plan tax. While a locally owned power utility would cover its costs entirely through its revenues once it was up and running, the city would need additional money to cover engineering and legal expenses before that time. It is estimated that the city would need about $1 million a year for three to five years before a final determination could be made about whether to issue bonds to buy Xcel’s system. This funding mechanism would allow the city to continue this process without impacting existing programs and services.
City Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, July 19, starting at 5 p.m., to discuss items for the November ballot. The full memo and other valuable information about the energy future project are available at http://www.boulderenergyfuture.com. There is also a comment form on this website if community members wish to give input to the staff team and City Council.
Boedecker theater at Boulder Dairy wrought with controversy and fraud
Mar 6th
Did George Boedecker know that he funded a theater that is wrought with controversy?? Maybe not.
“The Dairy Center for the Arts includes a brand new state-of-the-art cinema. The 60-seat art theater features independent film and broadcasts of live opera and other performing arts. Plush and spacious seats in The Boe will offer high-quality cinema viewing with access to traditional movie theater refreshments, snacks, beer and wine. The theater will also accommodate live performances and programs.” dairy center
What makes it controversial is that the theater wing was originally built with Comcast franchise fees to house public access TV for all Boulder citizens to come in and make their own video and film productions for free. $225,000 worth of 1995 dollars. Then $300,000 dollars was alloted annually by Comcast for the operation of the facility for the length of the franchise agreement. The wing was not supposed to be privatized and taken over by the city to be turned into a snooty elite international film series venue.The people of Boulder have been ripped offed, raped and duped by the Daily Center and the Boulder City council. Boedecker and his financial buddy Richard Polke made millions in their initial investment into Crocks. Now they have formed an unholy alliance to build this theater. Polke who is president of the of the dair
“Construction of the cinema, housed in the wing that formerly housed a public television studio at the Dairy, began last fall. But the idea to bring an art-house cinema with state-of-the-art technology to Boulder was hatched in 2009.” daily camera