The Boulder City Council met with Xcel Energy officials on Thursday, March 13, to discuss the city’s agreement with the utility on transitioning away from fossil fuels and strengthening the city’s electric grid against extreme weather and wildfires.
The meeting came nearly a year after Xcel cut power to much of Boulder with little notice, shutting down power to critical facilities and businesses. The utility shut off electricity to prevent power lines from sparking wildfires during high winds, but the lack of warning drew widespread criticism.
Councilmembers urged Xcel to improve how it communicates outages to the public, including publishing more detailed maps and notifying businesses sooner. They also pressed for a commitment to restoring power more quickly.
A broader discussion centered on the possibility of creating a microgrid — an independent power system that could run on renewable energy and battery storage. Councilmember Nicole Speer noted that although she had solar panels on her home during the April 2024 power outage, she was unable to use them.
Robert Kenney, president of Xcel Energy’s Colorado operating company, said the idea warranted further discussion but cautioned that funding would be a hurdle.
“That’s not something we would distribute costs for across all our customers like we do with traditional utility infrastructure,” Kenney said.
Councilmembers also pushed Xcel to accelerate its transition away from natural gas. The company has committed to ending coal use by 2030 but plans to continue using natural gas well beyond that, raising concerns about whether Boulder can meet its net-zero emissions goal by 2035. Councilmember Ryan Schuchard suggested the city consider taking control of its natural gas infrastructure to speed up the transition.
Kenney said Xcel plans to invest about $500 million in natural gas infrastructure in Colorado over the next four years, primarily for safety-related maintenance. He added that some customers and developers still want gas for heating and cooking, and the utility is obligated to serve them.
“We have dollars in the clean heat plan to help customers that want to electrify their homes,” he said. “But we still have developers that are developing subdivisions that want natural gas for heating and cooking.”
Councilmembers also asked Xcel to monitor air pollution at its coal ash storage site at the former Valmont Power Station. An award-winning investigation by Boulder Reporting Lab and CU Boulder students found that toxic chemicals from the site’s 1.6 million tons of coal ash — containing heavy metals like arsenic — have leached into groundwater, likely spreading toward a nearby residential area in unincorporated Boulder County.
Under federal rules, Xcel must restore the Valmont coal ash site to its original condition by stopping contamination and preventing further pollution, either by removing the ash or other methods. The company plans to begin ash removal as soon as 2026, with the process expected to take 10 to 12 years. Residents have raised concerns about potential air quality impacts during the removal.
Kenney said he was unsure if the company was monitoring air quality at the site.
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