Note: As of 2015, the Climate Action Plan is now referred to as the Climate Commitment. In November 2015, Boulder voters approved an extension of the Climate Action Plan tax through 2020, with rates remaining the same.
In 2002, the Boulder City Council passed Resolution 906, committing the community to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to the target established by the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement adopted in 1997 to combat global climate change. In November 2006, citizens of Boulder, Colorado, voted to approve Ballot Issue No. 202, authorizing the city council to levy and collect an excise tax from residential, commercial, and industrial electricity customers for the purpose of funding a climate action plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The plan outlines programs to increase energy efficiency, increase renewable energy use, reduce emissions from motor vehicles, and take other steps toward the goal of meeting the Kyoto Protocol.
Xcel Energy collects the tax for the city through its monthly customer utility billing. (Voluntary purchases of utility-provided wind power are exempt from the tax.) The tax rate, expiring March 31, 2018, is as follows:
- $0.0049 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for residential customers,
- $0.0009 per kWh for commercial customers, and
- $0.0003 per kWh for industrial customers.