Denver's Xcel Energy Franchise Agreement:
What Voters Need to Know about 2K

A factual guide for Denver voters on the utility franchise agreement — ballot measure 2K — between the City and County of Denver (CCD) and Xcel Energy, on the November 2026 ballot.

The Short Version

With ballot measure 2K, Denver voters are deciding whether to approve a new 20-year franchise agreement letting Xcel Energy keep using city streets and public right-of-way to deliver electricity and natural gas, in exchange for payments and commitments to the city. The current agreement, approved by voters in 2006, expires December 31, 2026. If voters approve the new one, it would run through 2046. If voters reject it, Xcel continues serving Denver as its state-regulated utility, but the city loses the negotiated payments and commitments described below.

Background

What is a franchise agreement?

A franchise agreement is a contract between a city and a utility that sets the terms under which the utility can use public streets, alleys, and rights-of-way to build and maintain its infrastructure (power lines, gas pipes, streetlights, and so on). It lets the city coordinate its own construction projects — repaving a road, say — with the utility's line or pipe work, reducing repeat digging and disruption.

A franchise agreement does not set utility rates and does not determine which company provides Denver's power and gas service. Colorado's Public Utilities Commission (PUC), a state body, approves Xcel's rates, and Xcel holds a state-regulated service territory for Denver — a franchise agreement is not the legal mechanism for changing either of those things. That means Xcel continues serving Denver regardless of how the vote turns out; what changes is the terms of its access to city property and the payments and commitments that come with it. The franchise agreement also does not govern the engineering details of Xcel's infrastructure — where specific lines or substations go.

Why is this on the ballot?

Denver's city charter has required voter approval of utility franchise agreements since 1906. Denver and Xcel renegotiate the agreement roughly every 20 years; the current one was approved in 2006 and expires at the end of 2026. Denver City Council voted 10–2 in late July 2026 (Councilmembers Shontel Lewis and Sarah Parady dissenting) to refer the newly negotiated agreement to voters this November, as the charter requires for any franchise affecting public streets or property.

What's in the proposed agreement?

Based on city officials' public statements and reporting as of late July 2026:

  • Term: 20 years, running through 2046 if approved, effective January 1, 2027 (pending state PUC approval). The new franchise agreement has a companion Energy Partnership Agreement negotiated alongside it; if voters reject the ballot measure, neither takes effect.

  • Franchise fee: 3% of Xcel's gross electric (and gas) revenues in Denver, paid to the city's General Fund — projected at roughly $34 million per year, up from about $30 million under the current agreement. The city and county count this money as part of the shared general revenue that funds police and fire departments, parks, street maintenance, and snow removal, alongside other General Fund revenue.

  • Undergrounding fund: A dedicated allocation of about $10 million per year toward moving overhead power lines underground.

  • Infrastructure relocation: Xcel continues covering the cost of relocating its own lines and equipment when the city does public works projects like road, bridge, or transit construction. The city estimates this requirement is worth about $150 million a year, or more than $3 billion over the life of the new agreement — comparable to the roughly $3 billion the city says the current agreement saved on non-airport projects over its 20-year term. This is a cost Xcel is required to absorb rather than a direct payment to the city.

  • Clean energy carve-out: About $2 million per year earmarked for programs like heat pumps and EV charging infrastructure.

  • Low-income and bill assistance: A one-time $2.5 million shareholder-funded contribution in 2027, plus $125,000 per year ongoing, for income-qualified bill assistance. City and campaign materials describe more than $50 million in combined funding over the agreement's term for bill assistance and related community programs (a figure that appears to bundle the clean-energy carve-out, low-income assistance, and Energy Navigator funding below rather than a separate pot).

  • Energy Navigator program: About $250,000 per year funding community-selected "energy navigators" to help residents with utility issues.

  • PUC intervention rights: The city gains formal standing to intervene in Xcel rate cases before the state PUC — a way to advocate for Denver ratepayers in the process that actually sets rates.

  • Safety, reliability, and audits: Xcel is required to maintain system safety, coordinate wildfire and severe-weather emergency planning with the city in writing, report publicly on outages and reliability, and restore power within the "shortest practicable time" after an outage. Independent performance audits of Xcel's obligations under the agreement occur every three years, and the overall partnership is reviewed every five years. A community advisory group is also established to monitor how the commitments are carried out.

  • Neighborhood design funding: At least 1% of substation construction budgets set aside for neighborhood-compatible design.

  • Combined estimated value: City officials put the total annual value of the franchise fee, infrastructure savings, undergrounding investment, and related benefits at more than $180 million per year.

What happens if voters reject 2K?

Xcel Energy holds a state-regulated monopoly on electric and gas service in Denver and would continue serving customers regardless of the vote's outcome — service does not stop. However, without a franchise agreement in place, neither it nor its companion Energy Partnership Agreement would take effect, meaning the city would not receive the negotiated franchise fee, dedicated undergrounding funding, PUC intervention rights, low-income and clean-energy program funding, or the new safety/audit and reporting commitments described above. Other Colorado cities, including Boulder, have operated for extended periods without a formal franchise agreement in place while continuing to negotiate one.

What happens if voters approve 2K?

The agreement takes effect January 1, 2027, subject to state PUC approval, and runs through 2046.

ARGUMENTS
FOR 2K

City officials, including Denver's Climate Office, have characterized this as the strongest energy franchise agreement in Colorado history, pointing to the PUC intervention rights, the increased undergrounding funding, and the added clean-energy and low-income provisions compared with the current agreement. A campaign supporting the measure, Safe & Reliable Energy Denver, lists organizations including the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado, Lupus Colorado, and Servicios de la Raza among its backers, and argues the negotiated relocation-cost coverage, undergrounding funding, and written wildfire/severe-weather emergency planning commitments would be lost if the measure fails.

ARGUMENTS
AGAINST 2K

Some City Councilmembers voted against sending the measure to voters. Parady specifically criticized the $125,000-per-year low-income assistance commitment as too small. Others argue the agreement doesn't do enough to address rising bills, service reliability, and customer service accountability, and pushed unsuccessfully for additional provisions such as expanded bill-relief pilot programs, broader resident access to energy usage data, and support for rooftop and community solar.

Background

  • Whether to approve a new franchise agreement between Denver and Xcel Energy. The agreement sets the terms for Xcel's continued, non-exclusive use of Denver's streets and public property, and what Xcel must provide the city in return. Denver's charter requires voter approval for any franchise agreement affecting public streets or property.

  • No. Neither is legally possible through a franchise agreement. Colorado's Public Utilities Commission sets and approves Xcel's rates, and Xcel holds a state-regulated service territory that includes Denver. Xcel continues serving Denver regardless of the outcome; what the vote decides is whether this specific set of negotiated terms and commitments takes effect.

  • The agreement would require Xcel to keep paying an estimated $34 million a year into Denver's General Fund (which supports police, fire, parks, street maintenance, and snow removal), and to continue covering the cost of relocating its own lines and equipment for city projects — estimated at about $150 million a year, an avoided cost rather than a direct payment to the city. A companion Energy Partnership Agreement, which only takes effect if the franchise agreement is approved, adds a $2.5 million Xcel shareholder-funded contribution in 2027 for income-qualified bill assistance (plus ongoing annual funding), an Energy Navigator program to help residents find bill assistance and efficiency programs, a requirement that at least 1% of new substation budgets go toward neighborhood-compatible design, and public reporting overseen by a community advisory group. (Sources describe a roughly $2 million annual allocation somewhat differently — as bill assistance in some materials and as clean-energy programs like heat pumps and EV charging in others — so the exact scope of that particular line item isn't fully consistent across sources.)

  • Xcel Energy continues serving Denver either way — service is not affected. But without a franchise agreement, neither it nor the companion Energy Partnership Agreement takes effect, meaning none of the commitments above would be legally required: no dedicated undergrounding funding, no written wildfire/severe-weather emergency-planning requirement, no independent audits, no public outage/reliability reporting requirement, and no requirement that Xcel cover relocation costs on covered city projects.

  • The agreement requires Xcel to report publicly on its progress toward the city's energy goals and gives a community advisory group a role in reviewing that reporting. City officials, including Denver's Climate Office, have called it the strongest energy partnership agreement in Colorado's history and say it strengthens the city's standing to intervene in state Public Utilities Commission rate proceedings (per Denver Gazette reporting on officials' statements) — a characterization made by the agreement's supporters rather than an independently verified ranking.

  • According to the agreement's terms as described by the city and by supporters of the measure: yes. A community advisory group is set up to monitor how the commitments are carried out, Xcel is required to report publicly on its progress, independent audits occur every three years, and the overall partnership is reviewed every five years.

Key Dates

  • December 31, 2026: Current (2006) franchise agreement expires.

  • Late July 2026: Denver City Council votes 10–2 to refer the new agreement to the November 2026 ballot.

  • November 3, 2026: Election Day.

  • January 1, 2027: New agreement's effective date, if approved by voters and the state PUC.