Deputy Mayor Featured Speaker

Municipalization of Boulder's energy provider

Municipalization of the XCEL energy franchise (or at least the transmission portion of the business according to Ms Ageton) was the first topic brought to the floor by Boulder Tomorrow president, Earl McLaughlin. Ms. Ageton's response was that studies about municipalization would yield two benefits to the City in any event. It might show that this should (or should not) be a business for the City to add to its portfolio for financial (enhanced revenues) and/or social responsibility reasons (Kyoto protocol compliance/ higher renewable energy use). Regardless of the conclusions from further study on those issues, the Deputy Mayor stated her belief that the information obtained would be helpful in negotiations in 2010 when the current XCEL contract expires.

When asked if she thought as a general rule whether government should engage in providing utilities when those services can as easily be run by private enterprise, she did not indicate a clear preference. Her comment was that sometimes governments can do or provide services as well as or better than private industry providers.