Karey,

"As I've said before in this blog, I believe the PUC was not given any realistic or complete separation plan from an engineering standpoint."

Very well said. The separation plan that Boulder submitted to the PUC was significantly lacking from an engineering standpoint, hence, my July 8, 2015 LTE:

Steve Haymes: Boulder's plan dead on arrival at PUC
http://www.dailycamera.com/letters/ci_28454987/st...

Phil just can't get over the fact that I was right again when he was wrong again.

Steve

DEF,

If you have read Phil Wardwell previous LTE's and GO's most of what he writes is gibberish. It is amazing that he made a living as an attorney. One of these days, I will have to meet this joker.

Steve

Phil,

You have been wrong every single time on Boulder's 6 legal and regulatory loses on the muni that include 2 at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ( FERC) in Washington DC, 2 at the Boulder District Court, and 2 at the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC). I have been right every single time.

The city council chose not to challenge the PUC at the Colorado Supreme Court, most likely at the advise of the city attorney Tom Carr as this was done in a closed-to-the-public executive session. The city attorney and city council are unlikely to reverse this decision. If they did, they would loose again.

With the PUC's rejection of Boulder's very weak separation plan, the muni is effectively dead, The revised plan is even weaker and it will be rejected again, It is time for the muni supporters to get over it.

And now for your viewing pleasure. The Black Knight, from Monty Python In Search of the Holy Grail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKhEw7nD9C4

NO-vember = NO Occupation Tax = NO Muni

Steve

OS,

Well said but perhaps a bit to graphic.

Steve

JB56,

Excellent post!

Can you please give me a phone call over the weekend. My land line of 20+ years is public.. You can probably figure out the name that I am listed under. Come to think of it, my name is in my LTE's. A few of us in this forum are already in communication outside of the BDC.

Thanks,

Steve

"All the while, it's difficult to fathom that Xcel is *gaining* any empathy---or respect---for Boulder. To say the least."

Ditto for the PUC. The separation plan that Boulder submitted to the PUC, while exceeding over 1000 pages, had less than 10 pages with any technical information, and this was vague at best.

In 2011, Xcel offered to build Boulder a dedicated 200 MW wind farm which would have provided Boulder with 80 percent of it's energy needs from renewables but the Boulder CIty Council, lead by Macon Cowles and Lisa Morzel rejected this offer. Boulder just had to negotiate the deal. The personal at Xcel who was behind the deal was a long-time Boulder resident and is now retired from the company.

I don't know who at Xcel can replaced her.

Steve

"Slighted by PUC staff, Boulder offers to be more flexible with municipal utility"

With the PUC's rejection of Boulder's separation plan, the muni is effectively dead!

It is time for Boulder to be more flexible about taking the off-ramp that voters were promised in 2011.

Steve

"Boulder proposes that if a particular line is in dispute, the issue could be settled by having Xcel cede control of that line to Boulder, or vice-versa, depending on which utility has more customers relying on the line."

For those of you who have read the August 28, 2015 decision by the PUC's staff that rejected Boulder's separation plan, they did so because it was in violation of Colorado State Law, in particular the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity that the PUC granted Xcel to serve the county customers in the separation area.

This latest proposal by Boulder is still in violation of the same state law and Xcel's Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity.

"Instead of asking to claim Xcel's facilities outside city limits, Boulder now suggests it could simply distribute power across Xcel's lines to serve city customers, without actually owning the lines."

In the separation plan that Boulder submitted to the PUC and the PUC's technical staff rejected, Boulder originally suggested the opposite. In the rejected plan, Boulder would condemn Xcel's lines and then charge Xcel to distribute electricity across the city's newly acquired lines.

"Boulder has said all along it would prefer not to build additional facilities in order to achieve a municipal utility, but it now says they "could be constructed to address specific customer locations."

Now that is is clear that Boulder cannot take over Xcel's 2 substations in the separation area, the only option for the muni is for Boulder to build its own substations. This will put the separation costs over the $214 million limited that voters approved in 2013.

The more that the muni drags on, the more foolish Boulder's proposals to the PUC become. With a salary of over $300,000 a year, Heather Bailey, city's director for energy strategy should know better, but then maybe her real "strategy" is to continue making $300,000 a year.

With Boulder losing six regulatory and legal decisions on the muni including two at the FERC, two at the Boulder District Court, and now two at the PUC, the muni is over. A more responsible city council and city manager would have gotten rid of Heather Bailey by now.

How much more time and money will Boulder waste on its foolish quest for the muni?

Steve

TC,

When i retire and have the time, I will get more involved in city politics than I currently am, That is a personal promise from me to you...

Steve

"We need more diversity in our leadership and there is a simple way to get it. We need to have precincts that elect council members who represent their neighborhoods."

With a population around 100,000 now, the at-large representation on the Boulder city council is long overdue to be replaced by a precincts-based representation. Of course PLAN-Boulder and the established political powers will fight any such a change tooth and nail.

The current city council is by far the worst that I have seen in over 40 years in Boulder. With the two disasters of "right sizing" Folsom and wasting over $15 million on the now-failed muni, hopefully the voters of Boulder will finally wake up and see how truly incompetent our current city council is.

Yes the time has come for a precincts-based representation in Boulder!

Steve