BOULDER, Colo.—Xcel Energy officials are threatening to cut solar rebates and energy-efficiency programs if Boulder voters approve a plan to break from Xcel and start a municipal utility.
Xcel regional vice president Jerome Davis said in a letter Tuesday that during the five or more years it will take to form the utility, the company may have to discontinue the programs.
According to the Boulder Daily Camera ( ), Boulder Mayor Susan Osborne calls Xcel’s threat a ploy by a desperate corporation to block the initiative.
Before Xcel’s 20-year franchise agreement with Boulder expired last year, the city started exploring whether to create a municipally owned utility as part of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and get more energy from renewable sources.
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Information from: Daily Camera,
