Dive Brief:

• The city of Boulder will need to present state regulators with its plan to take over Xcel Energy's local distribution assets before it can move ahead with eminent domain, a Colorado judge ruled this week.
• In 2013, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission​ (PUC) determined condemnation should be settled in a regulatory proceeding; Boulder appealed that decision to the courts, the Daily Camera reports.
• A district judge ruled Wednesday that if the city intends to take over assets serving those outside of its boundaries then Colorado regulators must have say in the matter as it impacts customers served outside the city limits.

Dive Insight:

In a ruling late Wednesday, District Court Judge Judith LaBuda said Boulder cannot take over Xcel's assets without regulatory involvement because the decision will impact power customers outside the city.

"The PUC has the authority to regulate public utilities and the facilities, which provide service within the City of Boulder as well as unincorporated Boulder," LaBuda wrote. "The City has the right to create a municipal utility to serve its citizens. These facilities are intimately intertwined. Therefore, it is necessary and appropriate for the PUC to determine how facilities should be assigned, divided, or jointly used to protect the system’s effectiveness, reliability, and safety."

Boulder planned to take control of Xcel substations in the city, as well as two substations outside the city limits and a transmission line circling the area.