Steve Pomerance

How should we elect our mayor? The current Boulder City Council is likely to push for charter changes to shift our city elections to even years, so it makes sense to also rethink the process of electing the mayor that was voted on in 2020. That change necessitated altering councilmembers’ terms to address the shift from nine to eight councilmembers. But it also required indicating how the mayor would be elected. The charter language now specifies, somewhat generically, that “The election shall be conducted by ranked choice (instant runoff) voting.” I suspect that most people voting for the change to direct election of mayor had not thought about what this language really means or what the alternatives are. Besides, it was clear at the time that the proponents of the direct election of mayor had not thought this through; their ballot issue ended up being completely rewritten by the city. Therefore, in my opinion, it makes sense to look at the alternatives as to how this voting wil...

The following is a modified version of testimony I sent to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission for their current hearing on what will happen to Xcel’s coal plants and who should pay. It’s time for the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to fish or cut bait. Either you all work for the ratepayers, or you work for Xcel — but you can’t have it both ways. The fundamental way a regulated utility like Xcel makes money is by investing its equity and receiving a return commensurate with what a company in an equivalent but competitive position would make, given the risks associated with such a competitive position. Xcel has been earning over 9% on its equity, which constitutes over 50% of its invested capital. The rest is mostly callable bonds, and so are relatively expensive. The key element of all of this is the word “risk.” If such a company makes a bad decision, then it should bear the cost. The big issue is Comanche 3, Xcel’s huge coal-fired power plant built near Pueblo, a...