Dive Summary:
- The city of Boulder, Colorado has laid out strategies that could lead to a municipal "utility of the future;" city planners and lawyers are currently looking at ways the plan could work.
- One strategy could lead to a legal fight between the city and Xcel Energy Inc., the region's current electricity provider.
- A major concern for both customers and legal planners is whether the city would be able to provide the same reliability as Xcel, while still charging its customers lower rates.
From the article:
The report was prepared for the Boulder City Council and lays out strategies for the city, including ones that could lead to a legal fight between Boulder and Xcel Energy Inc.
A large team of city planners and lawyers, as well as technical and legal advisers hired by the city, have been studying for months whether Boulder could form a utility. Its studies sought to find out if the utility could be as reliable as Xcel Energy, with lower carbon emissions and more energy from renewable sources. The utility also would have to charge lower rates. ...