1. Climate Change Mitigation/Adaptation: Lessons from Boulder September 22, 2014 Mayor Matthew Appelbaum City of Boulder, Colorado

2. Boulder, Colorado, USA We are here…

3. 25 miles to downtown Denver 5400 feet above sea level 100,000 residents (300,000 in county; ~3 million in Denver metro area) 50,000+ daily in-commuters 100,000 jobs: Ball Aerospace, IBM, high-tech startups NOAA, NCAR, NIST, NEON, NREL 30,000+ college students at CU Boulder 13,000 acres of urbanized area 47,000 acres of open space

4. First to tax itself for the preservation of open space First mandatory green building requirements First Carbon Tax in US Boulder is now seriously analyzing municipalizing its electric utility to address climate, economic and resiliency issues Community of “firsts””

6. Boulder has focused its efforts on balancing mitigation and adaptation

8. Boulder Emissions by Sector

9. Boulder Energy Use by Sector

10. OSMP The Vision

12. US Highway 36 BRT Development

13. Boulder Flood, 2013 Boulder’s COOP weather station (since 1893) set new records: 1-day (9.08”), 2-day (11.52”) and 7-day (16.9”) totals; The previous 1-day record was 4.80” and previous 1-month record was 9.59”.

15. Response Recovery Resilience

16. Bike ways as flood channel diversions protecting bridges

17. Smoke billows into the air as the Flagstaff Fire burns southwest of Boulder in 2012. In the wake of the fire, OSMP thinned areas east of where the fire burned to help reduce fire danger and improve local forest health.

18. Net Zero Energy Ordinance—Goal: Net Zero by 2031 Residential codes—Utilizes the HERS (home energy rating system) with current level at 60. Will decrease HERS by 10 points every 3 year code cycle till it reaches 0. Commercial—Current code is 30% above IECC 2012. Changes in 3 year intervals. Currently have a 47 Energy Use Index target (EUI) with 3 year increment decreases to 0 by 2031. Commercial Energy Ordinance Voluntary rating and reporting ordinance development. Benchmarking Mandatory Performance Standards Building Codes

19. One-stop shop for ANY homeowner making energy upgrades Addressed barriers identified in past services Moves residents from audit to action Energy Advisor assistance – “Translates” energy audit report – Provides education – Quick installs – Identifies all rebates & financing – Helps with paperwork – Promotes additional offerings of deeper energy efficiency retrofits

20. The nation’s first energy code for rental housing Coordinated with the launch of EnergySmart Requires an energy efficiency standard in all licensed rental properties by 2019 Innovative performance-based point scale Addresses the “split-incentive” Provides implementation assistance and rebates to meet compliance

21. Boulder’s Energy Future and the Municipalization Exploration Project

22. Potential Path way to Carbon Neutrality

23. 1. The Climate Problem is an Energy Problem 2. The Climate Solution is an Energy System Transition to Clean Energy 3. There are four “R’s” to focus on: Reduce (20%) Replace (80%) Redesign Reform of energy policy, especially utility 4. Energy system change is also integral to resilience capacity building The Climate-Energy Nexus

24. Boulder’s Paths to the Future 1.Stick with Xcel Energy and their planned future 2.Form a partnership with Xcel Energy Taskforce currently was working on this Would still have to meet community goals 3.Form a local electric utility Must meet Charter requirements and community goals Options have been modeled that show Boulder CAN 24

26. Pressures on the Existing Utility Model New environmental regulations Investment requirements Flat load growth Shifting fuel economics Upward pressure on rates Distributed energy resources Falling cost of alternative resources

27. What’s wrong with the current business model? -Inflexible, no customization, homogeneous -Vertically integrated monopoly -Regulatory context from the 1950s -Customers bear all the risk -No competition, no innovation -PUC doesn’t represent customers -Colorado: no CCA or other customer-oriented mechanisms -Long-term economic impacts 27

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29. “The Utility of the Future connects the wants, needs and desires of the user with the core values of the community in the most efficient and sustainable way possible.” How can Boulder - Focus on customer choice & treat energy as a service not a commodity? Become a hub of innovation and technological advances? Change the business model to reflect the values & economics of the 21 st century? Vision – Utility of the Future 29

30. Boulder’s Energy Future: Why we’re on this path Driven by the Boulder Community Climate Action Plan – Climate Commitment Achieve greenhouse gas reduction and climate change mitigation goals One of the most carbon-intensive fuel supplies in the nation Community access to: – Reliable power that is increasingly clean and competitively priced – Local decision-making authority on where power comes from and new investments in emerging technology To drive economic vitality and foster community innovation 30

31. 31 Community Goals & Voter-Approved Charter – 2011 Retained Consultants and Enlisted Stakeholders Engaged the Community Established Metrics Developed Options – Can Boulder meet the metrics Remodeled and remodeled and remodeled Qualitative Analysis – Is value added to the community Stress-Tested the Model Independent 3 rd -Party Verification Ongoing community engagement, education, & involvement

32. What could a local utility do? 32 Put needs of community first when prioritizing capital investments Undergrounding – Micro Grids – other tech Proactive grid management & replacement plan Increased Renewables and distributed generation opportunities (Not limited to 120%) Equal or greater energy efficiency & solar incentives More than double the renewable energy and half the emissions on Day 1 Services and Pricing – Focus and Flexibility (No PUC) Increased Community involvement

33. And there’s more … Tailor rate structures to help customers Utilize knowledge of local clean-tech sector and Labs and integrate emerging innovations Keep money in the local community and offer incentives to bring more business, industry here Respond quickly to outages and emergency situations and coordinate with Public Works

34. BOULDER ENERGY COMMUNITY MARKETPLACE Power Flow ELECTRICITY DELIVERY PLATFORM “Providing Safe, Stable, Reliable energy for all” ELECTRICITY DELIVERY PLATFORM “Providing Safe, Stable, Reliable energy for all” Increasingly flexible & adaptable infrastructure Energy that is increasingly clean, resilient and local Examples of Utility Focus Maintaining High reliability Acquiring resources Maintaining infrastructure Servicing customers Pricing/rate setting ENERGY SERVICES MARKET “A platform for innovation” ENERGY SERVICES MARKET “A platform for innovation” Entrepreneurial energy services 3 rd party access Open to innovation and competition Examples of Innovations focus “Peer-to-peer” energy services Electric vehicle energy storage for demand-response Dynamic rate options (fixed, demand, contracted, TOU) Expanded and flexible solar gardens Turn-key local generation and storage services CONTROL GENERATION GRID SERVICES DEMAND MGMT CCustomers

37. Matthew Appelbaum AppelbaumM@bouldercolorado.gov Contact