[BoulderCouncilHotline] Fw: Community Choice Energy

[Brockett, Aaron]

Good evening council members, staff, and hotline followers. At our meeting on Tuesday night we will be considering our legislative agenda for 2020. I wanted to pass along an email I received from State Representative Edie Hooton on Sunday regarding a bill she is planning on introducing to study the possibility of enabling communities to pick the providers of their electricity supply. I would like us to consider her request for council's support at our meeting on the 19th. The bill ties in neatly with item 6a in our agenda that supports open, competitive retail energy markets in Colorado. I encourage you to read the supporting materials she provided, including the link to frequently asked questions about the bill.

Best,

Aaron Brockett

Council Member, City of Boulder

brocketta at bouldercolorado.gov

(720) 984-1863

________________________________

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Edie Hooton <ediehooton at gmail.com<mailto:ediehooton at gmail.com>>
Date: Sun, Nov 17, 2019 at 8:59 AM

I am writing to introduce you to a bill that I am running in the 2020 legislative session and to ask that you consider supporting this bill when discussing your legislative priorities on 11/19. Perhaps you saw my guest editorial in today's Daily Camera. https://www.dailycamera.com/2019/11/16/edie-hooton-xcel-energy-colorado-community-choice/<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/c7MdCR6jvBirWqGkF9t5ld?domain=dailycamera.com>

The bill is a “Community Choice Energy (CCE) Study Bill” (PDF<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/BPruCVOnzZIlyo2LTzlDo5?domain=energyfreedomco.org>).  CCE, also commonly called Community Choice Aggregation or CCA, if it was enabled in Colorado, would allow any community that is served by an investor-owned utility (IOU) to choose an alternative wholesale electricity supplier, while the utility continues to deliver the electricity and continues to own and operate its transmission and distribution system and manage customer service and billing.  CCE would give communities more choice and control over their energy sources, energy costs, and local energy programs.  Individual customers within a CCE can opt-out if they wish, and purchase their electricity as “bundled service” from the utility.

To be clear, my bill does not enable CCE in Colorado, but rather, it authorizes two studies:  1) a third-party financial and technical feasibility study; and 2) an investigatory docket at the PUC to study the regulatory implications of CCE and answer well-considered questions that are specified in the bill through a broad stakeholder process and presentations by experts.  These studies would allow us all to know whether the promise of CCE for communities, as seen in other states, could also be realized in Colorado.

One main motivation for evaluating the CCE model in Colorado is to provide an option for the many Colorado communities that have 100% renewable energy goals in a timeframe that is more aggressive than either the utility’s or the state’s decarbonization goals.  This includes the “Ready for 100” cities and the members of Colorado Communities for Climate Action (CC4CA) that advocate for more action on climate change.

The main reason I am asking this Council to consider supporting my CCE Study Bill is that Boulder is known for seeing the big picture and the statewide need for more local choice and control over energy sources in service of decarbonization.  While Boulder itself is pursuing municipalization as a means to take charge of reaching its energy and climate goals, municipalization is not a solution for most other cities in Colorado.  Therefore, I am asking you to support the CCE Study Bill in recognition of the good that it could do for communities throughout the state as they seek ways to pursue their energy and climate goals.

Specifically, I would ask that you consider adding the bill among the list of legislative priorities for the 2020 session and passing a Resolution of Support for the CCE Study Bill  - I offer an example Resolution below as food for thought.

For more information about CCE and the Study Bill, please see the following:
- CCE Study Bill (PDF<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/BPruCVOnzZIlyo2LTzlDo5?domain=energyfreedomco.org>)
- CCE overview (PDF<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/R2YtCW6oABijqm6gCKuoLL?domain=energyfreedomco.org>)
- FAQ (PDF<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/iKz_CXDpBVtnKo4yuku5fw?domain=energyfreedomco.org>)
- Presentation (PDF<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/55Z_CYEqDXF3l2DJFM9Jsy?domain=leanenergyus.org>)
- Example Resolution of Support (PDF<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/zerSCZ6rEXiMg97VuPz5ek?domain=energyfreedomco.org>)

Very best,
Edie

Edie Hooton
Majority Caucus Chair
Vice-Chair, Committee on Energy and Environment
Member, Committee on Transportation and Local Government
State Representative
House District 10
Boulder | CO | 80304
ediehooton at gmail.com<mailto:ediehooton at gmail.com> | 303-588-7494 (c)
www.ediehooton.com<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/eT_WC2kDlJuk3zVJs0fAm6?domain=ediehooton.com>
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