Dear Editor,
I am writing about the City Manager’s recent meeting with Xcel’s president to propose a two-year extension of the utility’s franchise agreement with Boulder (“Boulder manager meets with Xcel president over franchise agreement,” Daily Camera, April 21).
As I have expressed to City Council members in the past, Xcel has much less incentive to get serious about decarbonizing Boulder under a two-year extension than if we strengthen our hand by simply letting the current franchise agreement expire. This is Negotiation 101. For those who may be wondering, the utility is required by state law to continue supplying Boulder’s electricity without an agreement in place. In Xcel’s own words: “the absence of a franchise agreement does not mean we would stop serving our customers in Boulder.” So why the rush to sign a two-year extension?
In these times of deep climate peril in which we live, it would be the height of irresponsibility to delay for two years critical conversations we need to be having now to figure out how to decarbonize our local power sources. Letting the current franchise agreement expire not only expands our universe of options, but gives us the strongest hand to play in our ongoing negotiations with Xcel.
Sincerely,
Tom Weis
Boulder