Wildfire and Xcel

A University Hill wildfire ambassador said the neighborhood is unmitigated wildland-urban-interface land and asked the city to actively educate residents on wildfire risk when reviewing dense rental development nearby. Kaplan followed up by asking staff how the city will integrate wildfire risk into land-use decisions across Boulder.

Council member Taishya Adams said the budget lacks funding for wildfire evacuation, recovery, and possible relocation costs, citing the Marshall Fire five-year mark. She also asked how rising energy and fuel costs are factored into capital project estimates.

Council member Matt Benjamin proposed roughly doubling the wildfire budget: about $2 million more from climate initiatives funding, $4 to 5 million more for OSMP fuels work, and $2 to 3 million from new grants. Council members Kaplan and Schuchard supported looking for more wildfire money; Mayor Brockett said the cut to climate funding felt too large and wanted more time before committing.

“We're out of step. We're looking at creating a budget for next year but only after we do that are we talking about potentially a major enhancement to the very wildfire budget.”

Staff reviewed a concept plan to expand the existing Xcel Energy operations facility at 2655 N. 63rd Street for fleet and equipment storage. Council Member Schuchard asked whether the project relates to nearby coal tar (coash) groundwater remediation work; staff said it does not.

Taishya Adams asked for a home hardening policy target like the city's affordable housing and emissions goals. Matt Benjamin later proposed a goal to harden 30% of homes in the highest risk zones by 2030 and raised mandatory retroactive home hardening, which Fire Chief Michael Calderazzo said council had already declined to pursue due to limited enforcement resources.

Paul Dennison presented a wildland-urban interface risk index that divides western Boulder into 12 sections, each ranked as highest, very high, or high risk based on home density, construction age, fuel type, and fire intensity.

Brian Anker said staff sorted 137 wildfire resilience projects into 25 programs. A survey of 34 wildfire professionals ranked 10 of those programs as tier one priorities, including fuels management, evacuation, and communications.

Jamie Barker described a planned home hardening web hub with budget-based project lists, one-to-five-hour weekend projects, and insurance and neighbor guidance. A soft launch is planned for late September and a public open house at Station 3 in October.

Mike Chard described the risk of a wildfire-initiated community conflagration, noting the Marshall fire burned as wildland fire for about 50 minutes before entering the urban area. He said Boulder leads a nine-county regional initiative on this risk involving over 75 agencies.

In closing remarks, Ryan Schuchard asked for a self-scorecard, Tina Marquis asked for support of local generation and micro grids, and Nicole Speer said Boulder is not seeing the benefits of its pilot franchise status. Matt Benjamin and Taishya Adams asked for clearer communication and an energy dashboard, Rob Kaplan asked for tighter timelines, and Tara Winer raised comparison shopping given the monopoly, which Robert Kenny called a natural monopoly with below-average rates.

Tara Winer raised reports of billing errors and a Public Utilities Commission investigation into Xcel customer service. Robert Kenny confirmed the commission opened that investigation in late 2024, and said Xcel restaffed and stopped dropping long-wait calls.

Nicole Speer and Tara Winer asked about micro grids and power-hardened resilience hubs. Staff said a $5 million program under Xcel's renewable energy standard plan begins design this fall, separate from the wildfire mitigation plan.

Taishya Adams asked if Xcel agreed with a Public Utilities Commission staff estimate of a 50% rate increase by 2029. Robert Kenny said he could not validate that estimate. Xcel noted a $10 million energy assistance commitment from its last rate case, not yet allocated.

Taishya Adams asked what Xcel has done for disproportionately impacted communities. Xcel described critical facility lists built with county emergency management, a battery rebate for medically sensitive customers, and a red truck outreach program used at least three times in Boulder this year.

Ryan Schuchard presented a city-compiled graphic showing Boulder outage minutes rose about 20 times since 2023. Robert Kenny attributed this to expanded use of enhanced power line safety settings and public safety power shutoffs, and expected a downward trend from 2027 but could not commit to a return-to-2018-levels date.

Matt Benjamin asked about two fires within 24 hours, one near People's Crossing and one at an underground vault near Coot Lake Reservoir. Xcel said routine inspection continues alongside wildfire work, and it plans over $7.5 billion in distribution system investment across Colorado over five years.

Aaron Brockett asked about faster power restoration after outages. Xcel described adding more sectionalization devices to shrink outage zones and a self-registration tool, live since February, that gives renters and facility managers real-time outage alerts.

Nicole Speer asked if Xcel would need rolling brownouts in 2027 given data center growth. Robert Kenny said no, because most new data centers come online after 2028 and the resource shortfall is measured against a planning reserve margin, not typical peak demand.

Robert Kenny said Xcel will be 85% carbon-free by 2030. He said Xcel missed its 2022 and 2024 Boulder Agreement targets but expects to beat the 2027 and 2030 targets.

Xcel plans to add 120 megawatts of capacity to Boulder by 2030 to support electrification and EV charging. Xcel and city staff have jointly identified 9 problem feeders out of 35 serving the city.

Xcel described a 100-year-old transmission line rebuild split into two phases. Phase one runs mostly through open space and should finish by November 2026. Phase two crosses the city and targets March 2028.

Xcel's Nick Cole described three underground feeder projects serving about 9,000 customers, at a cost near $70 million. One feeder, which serves the water treatment facility, is already under construction and due in Q1 2027.

Jonathan Cohen explained the 2020 franchise and energy partnership agreement between Boulder and Xcel. He said the agreement centers on emissions reductions, safety and reliability, innovation, and affordability.

The county's ditch wildfire mitigation program, now in its second year, cleared woody debris from about 12 miles of ditches in 2026 at a cost of about $50,000, covering 31 separate projects listed in the Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

“the woody debris and slash piles have been removed from about 12 miles of ditches at this point, uh, totaling over 232 tons”

City staff told Walt Morgan and council that an August 27 meeting will cover wildfire mitigation, home hardening, and a first look at coordination with Xcel Energy on public safety power shutoffs.

Resident Walt Morgan described a proposed 12-bathroom, 20-renter student rental on his street with no parking, and asked council to pause high-density permits under Ordinance 8666 in the wildland-urban interface overlay zone until evacuation impacts are understood. He said he collected over 100 signatures on a letter to the city.

Staff said the wildfire team required ignition-resistant materials for the new ADU and addition, and strongly recommended the same upgrade for the rest of the main house, though that was not a required condition.

“wildfire mitigation is required.”

Several members named wildfire readiness as a top strategic-plan priority. Ryan Schuchard called it an existential protection issue for the community, and Matt Benjamin, Rob Kaplan, and Nicole Speer separately listed wildfire infrastructure and resilience among their top picks from the 41 draft inputs.

Xcel Energy needs to move power poles so the county can widen 120th Street with paved shoulders. Commissioners asked why Xcel did not bury the lines, since the area is a wildfire tier two zone. Xcel staff said underground work would cost more, take months longer, and is not required for this type of rebuild. The board approved the $19,957 easement but asked Xcel to discuss burial options earlier on future projects near 93rd, 75th, and 95th streets.

“This, this really isn't an Excel energy project. This is a Boulder County project.”

Council member Benjamin said the Open Space Board of Trustees voted to recommend a charter amendment without the same confidential legal advice council later received, and asked the city to give boards and council the same information at the same time going forward. Staff agreed to do better and said the ordinance, if it proceeds, will go back to the Open Space Board of Trustees for a new recommendation.

Council reached agreement to pursue a code change (ordinance) rather than a ballot measure, given statutory deadlines that would apply to a 2026 ballot measure. Members then unanimously supported holding a noticed executive session to get confidential legal advice on the ordinance before it comes back to council.

Deputy city manager Chris McHugh asked council to choose between a charter amendment ballot measure, a code change, or no action on wildfire resilience for open space land. The Open Space Board of Trustees recommended a charter amendment, but staff recommended a code change, citing timing and other factors in a confidential memo.

ER physician Harry Ross testified that the airport's 24-hour fuel service is critical for medevac helicopters, and that a past gap in that service forced diversions to Loveland or Centennial airports, adding 45 minutes to flights.

Commissioners approved City Council's added language requiring the city to consider emergency management planning and egress capacity when evaluating development in wildfire-prone areas, with Commissioner Stolzmann saying structure density and egress are often left out of wildfire code decisions.

Commissioner Levy raised the ratio of park rangers to acreage compared with Boulder city open space, and asked how staff will handle day-to-day wildlife closures and signage while long-term district plans are written. Staff said rangers are moving to a district patrol model and that a proposal to add a resident ranger in the Peak-to-Peak area may come to the board.

Council straw polled Rob Kaplan's wildfire egress amendment as a recommendation rather than a binding condition, and it passed 8-1, becoming the sole City Council-added change to the plan.

Rob Kaplan proposed adding language to policy 89 requiring the city to weigh emergency management and egress capacity when approving development that adds density inside mapped wildfire ignition zones. He framed it as a life-safety and equity issue, since disaster-displaced lower-income residents are often replaced by wealthier buyers after a fire.

“it's often the residents that live there that can't afford to build again”