Hey City Council. We are sick of the grandeous lost vision and changes of game plan. Wasted money on nothing more than legal bills. You want zero carbon emmissions????? You are not cAPABLE OR COMPETENT TO RUN A UTILITY COMPANY. Work with Xcel, buy more solar for all public building. Reduce the carbon footprint through energy reduction. I cannot even imagine you guys subcontracting with some croonies to maintain the powerlines and constant construction of running a utility company. Your egos say you must win the battle.....but at what price? History will only remeber the ship of fools , not some visionaries. Work with Xcel, tell them you are sorry and get more solar projects going.

As the soap opera said........"as the world turns...............so do the days of our lives."
Glad Mr. Murphy has courage to say..........enough is enough.
The drama and crystal ball reveals more litigation is on its way.
Hmmmmmmm....zero carbon footprint??? Maybe.......maybe not.
Imagine this......................If the City of Boulder successfully condemned Xcel's grid tonight.......... the power would go out because Boulder Muni has no ability to power our city.
WE all want more solar..............makes sense. Buy more solar today...............we do not need Xcel's infrastructure. Let the professionals (Xcel) maintain the electric grid.
Legal fees and consulting fees will drain this city before even one alternative energy source is produced.
Is this really the direction we want to be heading towards????

All this waste on tax payer dollars and no end in sight. $20 million and counting in legal expenses and this is just a drop in bucket. Boulder City Council.............. what a waste...............!!! Scrap the endless litigation and work with Xcel.
You want solar, you want wind farms? Than negotiate with Xcel and also install roof top solar on every city government building and create a collaborative program for solar on commercial buildings and offer a local tax incentive.
If the end game is supposed to be Zero Carbon emissions then work with Xcel and let them maintain their equipment and infrastructure. Solar is here to stay, Council put your egos aside and build more solar programs. The whole country will implement solar anyways and coal burning plants will become a thing of the past due to changing markets. I am glad Xcel formerly PSCO will hopefully get to keep their grid and infrastructure. They built it, they also have over 100 years of excellent customer service to maintain it. Council has never even addressed how they will maintain the grid without competent linemen, engineers and staff support. You guys never really did your home work. Great job Xcel........... put council in their place. What a waste of money. $20 million and counting can buy alot of PV solar panels.

The massive EGO involved in this story is ridiculous. You really want energy independence. Install solar today. Every rooftop, every municipal building, every parking lot. You do not need a messiah complex righteous council to take action to do this. Many cities will pass Boulder and implement Solar and show a greater progressive statement before all the law suits are done in Boulder. The foolish mantra of...........At any price we shall overtake Darth Vader's utility infrastructure". ....................... You truly want zero carbon footprint??????????????? Invest in solar today, stop this insane spending on legal maneuvers. $20 million and counting.............. such a pitiful waste.

Xcel Energy formerly Public Service Company (PSCO) has been giving excellent service to Colorado residents for almost 100 years. Their employees live in our communities. They get the job done with a smile and an excellent customer service rating.
Can a Boulder Muni do as good of a job? When was the last time you walked into any City government building and saw a positive attitude or outstanding service?????????????? Apathy abounds. They are there to collect a pay check not give customer service with an award winning attitude. Let the black outs begin once they do their hostile takeover of an Award winning company's assets.

Joe....... a loyal soldier blindly marching to the fiscal cliff. So you believe it is good to spend money on a hostile takeover of a solid companiy's Utility assets and infrastructure? You believe that Council will lead you to the promised land of milk, honey and free zero carbon electricity??
Where will our electricity come from once Xcel pulls the plug?
Xcel you have my permission to pull the plug tonight. Given all the grief this civilized city has given you.
Yes we want to condemn your infrastructure and supposedly pay you fair market value plus Stranded Costs.
As for $2.7 billion. We rich folk can handle that.....nothing more than new running shoes each for our elite town.

Amber.........../ The Big Driver to solar is affordability............. PV panels have come down in price, The Solar industry has grown and solar is now affordable to most home owners and commercial properties. There is NO REASON what so ever to waste all this capital and legal expenses to to a hostile take over of Xcel's Boulder assets. Complete waste of time to buy power sub stations, telephone poles and copper wire. The technology exists right now..... to achieve our goal of zero carbon emissions. Amber you try to sell us on the righteous idea that Boulder Council knows what they are doing. The ego glorification of condemning an electrical utility( Xcel) for their mix of coal, solar, wind and hydro makes some feel righteous, but the truth be known...................... pull the plug today and Boulder has ZERO infrastructure in place to power our city's electricity. Not ONE volt...... zero, nada, zippo!!!! Build solar now, work with either Xcel, or Solar City or another competent energy provider. Boulder's EGO and vanity to assume we are the elite on the planet is causing much unnecessary spending when the solar and wind options have always been on the table. You want zero carbon??????? So do I. Work with progressive energy companies that can get us there. These law suits are only making a few rich in Boulder. Does not benefit our citizens in any way.

I am amazed how many people do not even vote. Only about 15% bothered to mail in ballots. WOW!!!!!! Mail in ballots make it so easy to vote and in a city with many smart educated people......... sad to see this.
Most people do not have any idea what this Muni is going to cost tax payers. It is still going to take another 3 to 4 years to complete the legal hostile takeover of Xcel's assets and another 10 years to build some type of alternative energy infrastructure. Many cities and states will fly right past us with solar energy programs because they will work with private enterprise and industries to accomplish their goals Funny how people believe that a city run utility with zero experience in solar or wind can out preform or innovate better than companies who have invested many years and billions of $$$$$$$$ to specialize in alternative energy. The open check book is now in councils hands. The electric rates from day 2 will be quite high and customer service will be a thing of the past. The majority has spoken ........... now pay for it.

Hey Cameron. You did an okay job here selling your picth for a City Electric Muni. But what you left out is the run away insane legal spending spree City Council has been on, attempting to save the world. Solar energy as we know it is about to become a true story and reality not only for Boulder but for the entire world. The companies that lead the way are either Private or publicly traded Solar companies. NOT city goverments. Even if Boulder wins it's hostile takeover, City Council is cluelss on the BIIGER MORE IMPORTANT PART OF THE PICTURE OF WHAT TO DO NEXT???? The truthful reality is............. Buiilding large solar projects or bulding Wind Farms are an easy $$$$$$ 2 billion or more grandious projects. Ask California or Texas. The City of Boulder has NOT done its homework on realistic spending or planning to accomplish this goal. $20 million and counting is just legal fees. We could have easily done roof top solar on EVERY city and school buildings for that. Now lets talks lineman crews, trucks support, infrastrusture., engineers, customer service, emergency blackouts. You want ZERO carbon emissions faster? Work with Xcel A leader in Solar and Wind Farms in the USA. DHA!!!!. City goverment is ineffective at running a competent Utility service.

What is NEVER addressed by City Council is Infrastructure. Take a look at any electrical power company....private....publicly traded or municipal. Power generation is a complex business. The costs of maintaining existing equipment and facilities is massive. There is constant construction and improvements being done. Engineers, line workers, power generation repairs, City of Boulder you can spend our money on this hair brained hostile takeover but you have ZERO expertise in running a utility company. For many years you will ONLY be reselling us either Xcels electricity or a possible joint partnership with coal burning plants in Fort Collins. Zero carbon footprint, what a deceptive story. If I want solar on my home i will go with Solar City because they are a competent and largest solar provider in the US. What a waste of tax payer monies. Even if you are successful of a hostile take over of Xcel's assets you are clueless on what to do next.