Denver City Council voted Monday to refer a proposed 20-year franchise agreement with Xcel Energy to the November ballot, clearing the way for voters to decide whether the utility will retain long-term rights to operate in the city’s public right-of-way. The decision followed a contentious public hearing in which community groups, labor unions, nonprofits and residents described sharply different expectations for what a multi-decade deal should include.

Supporters, including Xcel Energy executives and allied labor and nonprofit groups, said the agreement is necessary to protect reliability and to unlock investment in the electric distribution system. “We do want it referred to the ballot, and we do want it passed by the voters of the city and county of Denver,” Xcel president Robert Kenny told the council during the hearing.

Opponents — led by neighborhood groups, climate and consumer advocates and community organizers — urged the council to delay referring the document to voters until the city and the company had negotiated a separate, binding companion agreement that would spell out concrete commitments on low-income bill assistance, electrification pilots and community-centered resilience programs. “Please keep these and many other stories of struggling Denverites in mind as we ask you to vote no on moving the Xcel franchise agreement to this November’s ballot,” said Marilyn Ackerman of Together Colorado.

The franchise text before council primarily governs access to and use of the public right-of-way and establishes the city’s and company’s obligations around relocations of utilities for public projects. City staff and the mayor’s office have also negotiated a proposed Denver Development and Innovation Group ("DDIG") memorandum of understanding, which leaders say will provide a forum for ongoing collaboration on grid modernization, siting and pilot projects. Several council members and many speakers at the hearing criticized the DDIG as nonbinding and asked that any community commitments be codified in a companion agreement with explicit accountability and timelines.

Councilmember Vanessa Sandoval moved to order the referral to the ballot; the motion passed on roll call. The measure will appear on the November ballot unless council acts otherwise. If voters approve the franchise question, Public Service Company of Colorado (Xcel) will still need regulatory approval from the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to implement some changes related to service and rates.

Voters and neighborhood groups will now face a separate political decision: whether to approve a right-of-way franchise that city staff call important to avoid costly project delays, or to withhold a public endorsement until the city and Xcel sign a more detailed, legally enforceable companion agreement spelling out how the company will deliver on affordability and resilience for Denver neighborhoods.