Steve Pomerance

I’ve heard many misconceptions as to what would happen if we sign this franchise with Xcel Energy. So I’ll try to try to clarify a few points. Regulated for-profit monopoly investor-owned electric utilities (IOUs) like Xcel are not the norm. Competitive markets, including some multi-state, exist in many areas of the U.S. Rural electric associations operate in other areas. And around 2,000 municipally owned utilities operate across the U.S., with 29 in Colorado, including Fort Collins, Loveland, Longmont, Colorado Springs, Aspen, Glenwood Springs, and Gunnison. This current regulated for-profit structure was created about a century ago. The companies’ goal was to eliminate competition, and “capture” their regulators (public utilities commissions, or PUCs) by limiting them to operating in a reactive mode. That way, the companies secured both market control and profitability. These IOUs then invest as much as the PUCs will allow in power plants, transmission lines, etc. For exam...

A number of people have asked me about this year’s bumper crop of ballot measures. Here’s my brief take. The big money ones are Amendment B, repealing the Gallagher Amendment; Proposition 116, reducing the state income tax; and Proposition 117, requiring voter approval for certain new state enterprises. The argument for repealing Gallagher started with some small districts that are predominantly residential and where property values have not risen like in the majority of the state. So Gallagher’s mechanism, which lowers residential property taxes to keep a statewide balance between residential and commercial taxes, has cut into their revenues. But eliminating Gallagher will just raise everyone else’s residential property taxes even faster. The solution needs to be focused on solving the small districts’ problems, not just throwing out what has worked so well in keeping residential and commercial taxes in balance. Prop 117 requires voter approval for many fee-funded “enterprises.” This ...