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.
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.