Boulder Votes to Make Its Own Power

Last week, Boulder, Colorado voters approved the idea of firing their power company in favor of generating their own.

1 minute read

November 7, 2011, 8:00 AM PST

By Tim Halbur


Sarah Laskow says the approved initiative isn't the last step toward an independent, clean electricity grid:

"Progress moves slowly in the energy world, so the city won't make the final decision on local power for another few years. But this week's vote was the energy equivalent of closing an account at a national bank in order to buy into a local credit union. Instead of just one person leaving the utility, though, this is an entire community."

The Daily Camera reports that the drive to create an independent utility was spurred by a desire to work towards decreasing Boulder's carbon emissions.

Friday, November 4, 2011 in GOOD Magazine

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