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SW: →Citizen action against Xcel's coal plants: Adds municipal ballot to takeover Xcel plant in Boulder Co
==Citizen action against Xcel's coal plants==
===Sept. 10, 2011: City of Boulder CO proposes municipal takeover of Xcel===
A ballot initiative scheduled for November 2011 would, if passed, allow the city of Boulder take over Xcel's role as electric supplier. The municipal utility push began in 2009 when Boulder officials concluded the city couldn't meet its goal of reducing emissions of greenhouses gases to 1990 levels by 2012. More than half the electricity supplied to the city of Boulde comes from coal-fired power plants. <ref>Mark Jaffe [http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_18865813 "Boulder, Xcel Energy Square Off,"] Denver Post, Sept. 11, 2011. </ref> In the past 10 years, thirteen communities have switched from investor-owned to municipal utilities, according to the American Public Power Association. Most were small communities of 10,000 or less. Boulder, with about 96,000 residents, would be the biggest city to switch to a municipal utility in years. But Xcel is fighting the proposal, as other utilities have in recent years. According to the Denver Post:
• In 2001, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. spent $2 million to defeat a ballot initiative for a San Francisco municipal utility.
• In 2005, MidAmerican Energy Co. spent $527,000 to defeat a ballot measure in Iowa City, Iowa. That was 26 times more than municipal utility advocates raised.
• In 2010, PG&E spent $46 million on supporting Proposition 16, a constitutional amendment that would have made municipalization harder in California. The proposition was defeated.ref>Mark Jaffe [http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_18865813 "Boulder, Xcel Energy Square Off,"] Denver Post, Sept. 11, 2011. </ref>
===July 14, 2009: Residents protest Valmont at public hearing, push for conversion===
Xcel and the City of Boulder are in negotiations to renew [[Valmont Station|Valmont Station's]] contract with the city. The agreement must be renewed every five years and is slated to expire in August 2010.<ref>[http://www.coloradodaily.com/news/2009/jun/03/boulder-xcel-franchise-negotiations/ "Xcel franchise negotiations likely to drag into next year,"] ''Colorado Daily,'' June 3, 2009.</ref> Many Boulder residents are pushing for the plant to stop burning coal either shut down entirely or convert to cleaner energy.<ref>Judith Mohling, [http://www.coloradodaily.com/news/2009/jun/11/convert-valmont-plant-to-clean-energy/ "Peace Train: Convert Valmont plant to clean energy,"] ''Colorado Daily,'' July 11, 2009.</ref><ref>Anne Butterfield, [http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jul/12/selfishly-seeking-clean-energy/ "Selfishly seeking clean energy,"] ''Daily Camera,'' July 12, 2009.</ref>
