The City and the company agree that sustainable development,
environmental excellence and innovation shall form the foundation
of the utility service provided by the company under this franchise.
The company agrees to continue to actively pursue reduction of carbon
emissions attributable to its electric generation facilities with
a rigorous combination of energy conservation and energy efficiency
measures, clean energy measures, and promoting and implementing the
use of renewable energy resources on both a distributed and centralized
basis. The company shall continue to cost-effectively monitor its
operations to mitigate environmental impacts; shall meet or exceed
the requirements of environmental laws, regulations and permits; shall
invest in cost-effective environmentally-sound technologies; shall
consider environmental issues in its planning and decision-making;
and shall support environmental research and development projects
and partnerships in our communities through various means, including
but not limited to corporate giving and employee involvement. The
company shall continue to explore ways to reduce water consumption
at its facilities and to use recycled water where feasible. The company
shall continue to work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to
develop and implement avian protection plans to reduce electrocution
and collision risks by eagles, raptors and other migratory birds with
transmission and distribution lines. On or before December 1st of
each year, the company shall provide the City a written report describing
its progress in carbon reduction and other environmental efforts,
and the parties shall meet at a mutually convenient time and place
for a discussion of such. In meeting its obligation under this section,
the company is not precluded from providing existing internal and
external reports that may be used for other reporting requirements.
The City and the company recognize and agree that energy conservation
programs offer opportunities for the efficient use of energy and possible
reduction of energy costs. The City and the company further recognize
that creative and effective energy conservation solutions are crucial
to sustainable development. The company recognizes and shares the
City’s stated objectives to advance the implementation of cost-effective
energy efficiency and energy conservation programs that direct opportunities
to residents to manage more efficiently their use of energy and thereby
create the opportunity to reduce their energy bills. The company commits
to offer programs that attempt to capture market opportunities for
cost-effective energy efficiency improvements such as municipal specific
programs that provide cash rebates for efficient lighting, energy
design programs to assist architects and engineers to incorporate
energy efficiency in new construction projects, and recommissioning
programs to analyze existing systems to optimize performance and conserve
energy according to current and future demand side management (“DSM”)
programs. In doing so, the company recognizes the importance of (i)
implementing cost-effective programs the benefits of which would otherwise
be lost if not pursued in a timely fashion; and (ii) developing cost-effective
programs for the various classes of the company’s customers,
including low-income customers. The company shall advise the City
and its residents of the availability of assistance that the company
makes available for investments in energy conservation through newspaper
advertisements, bill inserts and energy efficiency workshops and by
maintaining information about these programs on the company’s
website. Further, the company will designate a conservation representative
to act as the primary liaison with the City who will provide the City
with information on how the City may take advantage of reducing energy
consumption in City facilities and how the City may participate in
energy conservation and energy efficiency programs sponsored by the
company. As such, the company and the City commit to work cooperatively
and collaboratively to identify, develop, implement and support programs
offering creative and sustainable opportunities to company customers
and residents, including low-income customers and residents. The company
agrees to help the City participate in company programs and when opportunities
exist to partner with others, such as the State of Colorado, the company
will help the City pursue those opportunities. In addition, and in
order to assist the City and its residents’ participation in
renewable energy resource programs, the company shall:
(a) Notify
the City regarding all eligible renewable energy resource programs;
(b) Provide
the City with technical support regarding how the City may participate
in renewable energy resource programs; and
(c) Advise
residents regarding eligible renewable energy resource programs.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, to the extent that any company
assistance is needed to support renewable energy resource programs
that are solely for the benefit of company customers located within
the City, the company retains the sole discretion as to whether to
incur such costs.
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It is the express intention of the City and the company that
the collaborative effort provided for in this article continue for
the entire term of this agreement. The City and the company also recognize,
however, that the programs identified in this article may be for a
limited duration and that the regulations and technologies associated
with energy conservation are subject to change. Given this variability,
the company agrees to maintain its commitment to sustainable development
and energy conservation for the term of this agreement by continuing
to provide leadership, support and assistance, in collaboration with
the City, to identify, develop, implement and maintain new and creative
programs similar to the programs identified in this agreement in order
to help the City achieve its environmental goals.
Nothing in this article shall be deemed to require the company
to invest in technologies or to incur costs that it has a good faith
belief the PUC will not allow the company to recover through the ratemaking
process.