[bouldercouncilhotline] Hotline: Questions for tonight's meeting

[cmosupport at bouldercolorado.gov]

Sender: Weaver, Sam

All,

I am sending this email message to both Hotline and to Council to expedite its delivery to Council and Staff, as well as to make it widely available.

I will be asking the following questions tonight of staff and Xcel representatives, and wanted to make them known in advance.  At the end are a few relevant facts as context for the discussion.

Questions for Staff

• Given the limited staff resources available for working on the Energy Future effort, is further Task Force input necessary for Xcel to make a firm partnership proposal to the City?

• If so, at what point in the proposal development process is Task Force input likely to be most beneficial?

• Are members of the Task Force adequately protected from being involved in litigation by the current/proposed memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the City and Xcel?

• Are City interests in proprietary information regarding potential litigation adequately protected by the current/proposed memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the City and Xcel?

• Since the original Task Force mandate did not include modeling, why has linking City and Xcel modeling become a subject discussed by the Task Force?  Since the City has excellent modeling capabilities, could the focus of any Task Force discussions remain on making sure that common assumptions are used in each party’s respective modeling efforts?

• Since Task Force members were recruited for their policy and utility knowledge, is the Task Force the appropriate venue for such discussions (modeling and modeling assumptions)?

• Does staff have any input as to what deadlines need to be met as far as any firm Xcel proposal in order for such a proposal to be evaluated as a meaningful alternative to condemnation?

• The City has a long list of outstanding information requests to Xcel.  What is the status of those information requests?

Questions for Xcel representatives

• Among Boulder’s goals are getting completely off of fossil fuels for our electricity supply.  On the path to that goal, Boulder would like to have any fossil fuel supply come from sources which use best extraction practices such as air and water quality monitoring in nearby environments, third party inspection of well casings, and methane emissions mitigation from coal mining.  What is Xcel’s plan to achieve a supplier base of fossil fuels which use best environmental practices above and beyond simple regulatory compliance?   Is there a PUC filing or internal corporate document that outlines such a plan? 

• In what year will Xcel provide electricity on its grid which is produced completely without fossil fuels?  Are there any filed PUC dockets which express this goal?

• What is the current Xcel projection of the year in which Xcel Colorado carbon emissions will be cut in half relative to current emissions (on either a per-energy basis or an absolute basis)?  Is there a PUC docket which documents the projected year of this achievement?

• Given Xcel’s current push to increase net metering fees substantially for distributed generation (particularly solar), how would such an outcome impact the ability of an Xcel-Boulder partnership to meet Boulder’s goal of substantially increased distributed renewables?  Will the increase in net metering fees render some or all of this goal less economically attainable?  If so, will Xcel propose alternative programs to remedy that shortcoming?

• Since the list of options that Xcel is considering analyzing with the Task Force effort comprises almost entirely demand side management (DSM) and energy efficiency (EE) measures, are any of those programs already proposed on past or current DSM/EE dockets filed with the PUC?

• Very good DSM/EE programs can produce 1% to 2% reductions in year-over-year load growth at best.  For the City to meet its climate commitment requires 5% year over year emissions reductions.  It is clear that steps are required well beyond what Xcel is proposing to analyze with the Task Force in order to meet City goals.  What additional programs will Xcel propose beyond what it has shown to the Task Force?

• Is Xcel planning to put any of the listed DSM/EE programs in place on its system regardless of the outcome of Boulder’s municipalization exploration?

• The list of programs that Xcel will consider analyzing does not include any distributed renewables generation.  Does Xcel plan to propose any programs that address Boulder’s goals regarding substantial increases in distributed renewable power production?  Why are such programs not on the current list of options presented to the Task Force?

• What will Xcel propose for Boulder (and potentially other customers) specifically around distributed renewables above and beyond the current state requirements?

• When City staff were instructed to begin substantial modeling efforts in fall of 2012, they were able to produce an outstanding suite of modeled options by Q1 of 2013 which included both rate and emissions impacts.  Xcel has been aware of the Boulder Energy Future goals and process since at least 2010.  What has prevented Xcel from making a firm proposal to the City for a partnership during after the 2011 elections?  Will the Q2 2014 presentation of findings represent a firm partnership proposal by Xcel for a Boulder-Xcel utility program, complete with rate and emissions impacts?

• Will Xcel produce an analysis of any of its proposals against City metrics?

Notes Regarding German Utilities and Xcel

• RWE (a major German utility) has lost $500B in equity valuation over the last 5 years due to neglecting to adjust its business model to the new German energy reality of lots of EE and distributed RE.  It is being forced to retire coal plants earlier than it had planned, and demand for fossil-based electricity is falling.

• Germany has reduced its carbon emissions by 25% since 1990 while growing its economy as measured by GDP by over 3% per year.

• 25% of Germany’s electricity supply is from renewables, 5% from solar.

• In 2011, Xcel Energy was one of the top 10 nationwide emitters of greenhouse gases in the US.

• Xcel CO pre-tax profits in 2003 were $310M.  In 2012, pre-tax profits were $690M, an increase of 2.2X.  Gross margins for Xcel Colorado electricity supply are around 20%.

• Xcel has received rate increases from the PUC in 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2012 accounting for virtually all Xcel Colorado profit increases in since 2003.  Additional rate increase requests are pending.


Sam Weaver
Member of Boulder City Council
weavers at bouldercolorado.gov
Phone: 303-416-6130