City of Boulder Ballot Question 2E
Electric Utility Amendments, $214 million acquisition debt limit and superseding other initiatives
Vote Yes
This is the ballot question that was added by the Boulder City Council as a response to the Xcel-backed ballot Question 310.
If
Question 2E passes, it would amend Boulder’s Home Rule Charter by
setting a $214 million limit on the bonds or other debt obligations that
the city could issue for the purpose of acquiring Xcel’s electric
system assets and paying the company’s stranded costs should the city
move forward with its plans to create a city-owned electric utility.
Question 2E would also allow the approximately 7,000 county residents
living outside city limits, but who would get their electricity from a
newly formed City of Boulder electric utility if the municipalization
process is successful, the opportunity to serve on the city utility’s
advisory board.
One of
the primary reasons the city has put forward this question with its
$214 million limit is to combat the very high figures being put forward
by anti-municipalization proponents supported by Xcel, whose flyers and
other advertising have been making claims that the city may have to
spend more than $600 million to acquire the company’s fixed assets and
pay it for its stranded costs.
The
city has long claimed that these higher figures are greatly
exaggerated and that it would not move forward with its
municipilization plans if it had to spend that much on the initial
acquisition.
Question
2E could be thought of as the City of Boulder’s way of guaranteeing
voters that it won’t overspend to create its own utility.
Voters
should also be aware that if both Questions 2E and 310 pass, then the
question that receives the most votes will be the one that the city
implements.
It’s
really a shame that the city felt it even needed to put forward Question
2E in order to combat the Xcel-backed question 310. That’s because the
real issue of municipilizing is not which future provider, Xcel or the
city, can save us a few cents on our electric bill. The real issue of
creating a city-owned utility is global warming. Another new study
found that in just 47 years, the coldest day on Earth (taking all
temperatures around the globe, both winter and summer, and averaging
them together) will be hotter than the hottest day on Earth in 2000.
If
you believe that a utility owned and operated by the people of Boulder
will be more committed to finding sustainable sources of energy than a
utility owned by Xcel, whose primary legal obligation is to return the
maximum profit possible to its shareholders, then vote yes on 2E.
And
besides, its very likely that residents will pay less for electricity
through a city-owned utility than they do through Xcel because the city
doesn’t have to generate excess revenue as profit. But the main reason
to vote yes on 2E is for the health of the planet and our children and
children’s children.
View all of Boulder Weekly’s endorsements here.
