To understand what municipalization is and isn't, you need to know about RECs. The Environmental Protection Agency explains, "A renewable energy certificate, or REC, is a market-based instrument that represents the property rights to the environmental, social and other non-power attributes of renewable electricity generation. RECs are issued when one megawatt-hour of electricity is generated and delivered to the electricity grid from a renewable energy resource."

The REC system is legitimate because you can only count (or brag) about the REC once. Many believe local Boulder power should be generated in Boulder from solar, hydro or wind, that generating power in Boulder is better than buying it from Xcel Windsource wind farms in other Colorado locations.

It might surprise you that Boulder does generate local power now but sells it to others. Boulder owns and operates hydroelectric turbines at a variety of locations in Boulder Canyon. In 2016, Boulder Canyon hydro produced 40,799 megawatts of electricity. Of that, 11,600 megawatts, enough to supply thousands of homes, was generated at Boulder's original station built in 1910.

While Boulder is spending millions pursuing municipalization, it is selling our carbon-free electrons to arbitrage a few bucks, which makes no economic or environmental sense. That energy and its RECs are sold to Tri-State Energy. Half of the RECs resulting from the remaining 29,199 megawatts of Boulder hydro remained titled to Xcel when we originally bought the system, to guarantee our water supply. Boulder hasn't attempted to negotiate with Xcel to repatriate those hydro RECs we don't have title to.


Whether municipalization costs $200 million or $1 billion, these Boulder hydro RECs are not a part of the deal. Unlike communities around the world that are focused on generating renewable energy, Boulder's focus is on punishing Xcel, not on decarbonization. In fact, a settlement that provides the sustainability and resiliency of Xcel's ownership of poles and wires, the ones that helped us survive the 2013 flood but with carbon-free energy running through them, is not a Boulder City Council goal.

People all over the world are finding new ways to reduce their carbon footprints with better-built buildings and ever more efficient solar panels. It is obvious that with municipalization, the promised profit won't be there if we pay more for the poles and wires, while using less energy because we have more solar on our rooftops.

Options to service the debt will then include finding more customers by growing Boulder through annexation or increased building height, selling open space, and/or avoiding energy reduction strategies because we can't afford to lose the revenue from selling the electricity.

Municipalization and other frivolous projects have already affected our city budget as can be seen in the capital tax proposal to be voted on in November. In 2014, 2A, Boulder's Community, Culture and Safety Capital Tax, funded great nonprofit projects, as it will again this year. However, rather than 2014's parks enhancements, most of the city's proposed projects concern essential services such as critically needed police communications and relocating a fire station, which should be funded from the city's general fund budget rather than an additional tax.

Boulder has one of the strongest economies for a city its size in the United States and an excellent and well-informed city staff, yet the cost of pursuing municipalization appears to have played a role in compromising our ability to fund public safety. I believe this is because a voting block on City Council is fixated on local control and punishing Xcel in spite of its environmental progress. We've spent over $15 million on this municipalization quest and the voting block wants us to spend another $16+ million without a promise to create one carbon-free electron.

Please vote against continuation and increase of the muni utility occupation tax in November and against executive sessions designed to keep secrets from you, not from Xcel. Also, vote against the promise of a final vote that is really about allowing a much larger municipalization price tag than the $214 million we already voted for. Other paths will reduce Boulder's carbon footprint without bankrupting our future.

And, most important, vote for independent City Council candidates who will celebrate and build on Boulder's good fortune, representing our values and promoting responsible global citizenship.

Richard Polk lives in Boulder and is a former City Council member.