My question for all 3 of you concerns the many cities and businesses in Colorado that have ambitious renewable energy goals but no practical way to reach them, for example Lafayette's goal of 100% renewable electricity by 2030.
Municipal utilities like Longmont's have the freedom to pursue such goals, but those of us served by investor-owned utilities like Xcel, or co-ops served by Tri-State, are in need of some legislative intervention that gives us for more choice and control over our energy sources.
One idea proposed by the group Energy Freedom Colorado is to initiate a stakeholder process led by legislators or the Governor's office, that would evaluate the half dozen or so options that would allow cities, businesses and co-ops to pursue ambitious energy goals.
There's a detailed white paper about this idea titled "A Strategy and Six Ways to Address Community Energy Goals" which I will send you tomorrow. Anyone here who's interested can download it at EnergyFreedomCO.org and click on "Community Electricity Options Project".
My question is: What are your thoughts in general about how to give communities, businesses and co-ops more choice and control over their energy sources? And specifically, would you support this idea of a broad stakeholder process at the state level to evaluate the half dozen or so possible solutions?
If followup: I'll also mention that any process to address the energy goals of communities and businesses would be a great first step toward the larger conversation about how to meet the Polis 100% by 2040 statewide goal.
Note: The "Six Ways" are: Two flavors of Community Choice Aggregation (California-style and Illinois-style); an improved bill HB18-1428 (the "Community Energy Act"); municipalization like Boulder is doing; utilities voluntarily providing 100% renewable energy to everyone; and adapting the idea of a corporate "green tariff" to communities.