Endorsement Quotes

“Even those who have supported municipalization in the past might take a close look at the settlement terms for 2C. Under the settlement, the community is getting a lot of what it set out to achieve when the municipalization endeavor was launched in 2010, including a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and more local control. As for 2D, I am happy to share the 76 cents a month I’m already paying in this tax for meaningful climate action, and to help low-income families pay their utility bills.”

“The 10 year effort and millions spent on a Boulder municipal utility has had no success. Let’s stop wasting money on lawyers and analysts. Time to move forward with a new plan that will move Boulder to increased renewable energy. Vote Yes on 2D and 2D.”

“Thanks for the common sense end of debacle. We just put $16K worth of solar panels on our roof last year, and love the provision that we could generate more power than we typically use.”

“Let’s end the wasteful muni effort and not risk spending hundreds of millions of dollars or more to get us nothing more than we have today. The muni plan ignores efficiency measures and residential solar because it can’t afford for us to use less. Xcel has the subscriber base and economies of scale to do so, while reducing more carbon gridwide than we could ever hope to achieve on our own. End the effort, and hold Xcel to their commitments while allowing us to focus on the changes we can make now.”

“More renewables, sooner, for less.”

“Let’s not make the Perfect be the Enemy of the Good.”

“Times change. We no longer have the money or need to continue the process.”

“Time to move forward and stop all the waste. Glad Council is ready to do something, versus talk about it and talk about it and talk about it…”

“Global warming is a global problem, and as this agreement demonstrates, Boulder as a community will do far more to combat climate change by helping to push Xcel to do the right thing across multiple states than by going off on our own.”

“One thing the pandemic has made very clear is that there is a vital need for city wide high speed internet. We need to use the City’s bonding capacity to make that happen. Moving forward with the old municipalization plan would prevent making that happen, because the City cannot afford to do both. While the original idea of the municipalization may have been valid many changes have occurred that have invalidated the need. Now we need to focus on the immediate need for the high speed internet. The negotiated deal with XCEL accomplices many of the original goals without further delays and wasteful legal fees.”

“The long pursuit of municipalization has played itself out. Times have changed since it began. Excel became greener with the times. Now the cost of further pursuit exceeds the likely benefits.”

“The climate crisis is time sensitive – winning slowly is the same as losing. Boulder has spent the past 10 years trying to form a municipal utility, a decade that had passed without any actual reduction in emissions. Meanwhile, Xcel became the first large IOU in the country committed to reducing emissions 80% by 2030 and hitting net zero by 2050, across the utility’s entire 8 state service territory. It is past time for Boulder to start working productively with Xcel to join forces in the effort to rapidly reduce emissions at scale.”

“10 years ago, as well as more recently, I voted for the muni. But after these 10 years and the $25 million that has been spent on the municipalization effort, I’ve lost faith in the process, and in the city’s ability to run a utility focused on doing our part to mitigate climate change.”

“Haven’t we had enough broken promises, endless cost overruns and failed legal adventures? Are we really going to follow and trust the same folks who so miscalculated the time, money and lost opportunity costs to create a muni? We are smarter than this! VOTE YES on 2C for the climate, safety and savings!”

“When I was on City Council I predicted the delays and failures the City has experienced over the past ten years. If the City continues the pursuit of the Muni, I predict it will be another ten years before it actually successful.”

“I’ve been working on Boulder’s municipalization project since before 2010, and was originally a strong supporter. I’m pleased to be able to vote for a new franchise that vastly improves our ability to limit carbon emissions, and supports our clean tech industry. Join me in supporting questions 2C and 2D.”

“…Boulder residents…need to be pragmatic enough to recognize they stand a better chance of meeting their clean energy goals faster by working with the company [Xcel Energy] rather than continuing to battle it.”