Steve Pomerance

In a number of states, the incumbent utilities are challenging the “net metering” that makes rooftop solar attractive to homeowners and businesses. A photovoltaic solar system generates energy when the sun is shining, but the owner may not consume all these kilowatt-hours as they are generated. So the excess energy goes onto the local circuit and is used by other buildings that don’t have solar. Net metering allows the owner to take credit for this energy by subtracting it from their total energy consumption, even thought it occurs at different times. The owner pays only for electricity used in excess of what is generated. Remember that vertically-integrated investor owned utilities are not like regular businesses. They make money by investing their capital in power plants, transmission lines, etc. and receiving an almost-guaranteed return (Xcel/PSCo’s is 10-plus percent.) They make additional profits on energy sales into the spot market. These two reward structures incent them to ...

This column was stimulated by a recent city of Boulder newspaper ad. It said, “Now Showing on Boulder’s Channel 8 — Is Building in Boulder Over?” The ad goes on to discuss Longs Gardens, a 25-acre parcel of agricultural land near Broadway and Iris Avenue, and asks whether this site is appropriate for “the ‘right kind of development’ that is not car dependent.” The show itself was basically a discussion about some of the more recent iterations of “new urbanism” (dense, mixed use areas that in theory promote alternatives to driving) versus the value of green space and urban agriculture (including its value to children as a learning experience). I found the presentations, which involved a sitting council member and a member of the Transportation Advisory Board, rather troubling. First, neither participant provided any context. Discussions about growth in Boulder need to start with the numbers: Under its current zoning, Boulder has the potential to add something like 60,000 more jobs t...