Boulder discusses greening its grid

If there was ever a town that could take over its own grid and turn it green, it would be Boulder, Colo.

That is the message the city presented in a two-minute commercial it released earlier this week urging community members to get involved in a discussion about how to move forward with its energy plan.

Voters opted in 2010 not to renew Xcel Energy’s franchise agreement and the city is now trying to decide how to move forward. City leaders believe the town should be able to get 51 percent of its power from renewable energy sources like solar and wind by 2015, just three and a half years from now. Boulder currently gets just 10 percent of its power from renewable sources, according to the commercial.

“This is such an exciting opportunity for Boulder,” said Ken Beitel, advisory board chairman of The Renewable Energy Initiative and a Boulder resident.

He presented the city’s commercial at the Renewable Energy Gala in Denver, Colo. on Tuesday and rewarded it the most educational energy video award.

The commercial kicked off Boulder’s Energy Future community outreach campaign, according t a release on the city’s website.

Through community energy meetings prior to voting not to renew Xcel’s franchise agreement, people agreed that they want an energy future that is cleaner, reliable, more affordable and with stable and predictable rates, according to the commercial.

The city gets 90 percent of its power from fossil fuels right now “even though Colorado is one of the sunniest and windiest states,” according to the commercial. The commercial also highlights that the community s home to some of the world’s greatest minds, especially when it comes to renewable energy. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is just a few miles away.

Beitel told the crowd gathered at the Renewable Energy Gala that while the goal is a bold one, it’s achievable. Boulder’s peak energy usage, in the early afternoon during the summer, is only 225 to 250 megawatts, he said. A small wind farm or large concentrated solar power farm or solar photovoltaic plant could easily produce more than half if not all of that.

To view the commercial or read more about Boulder’s Energy Future discussion, visit http://www.BoulderEnergyFuture.com