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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Meeting - April 29, 2026: Energized Denver Code Update and Xcel Wildfire Mitigation Briefing

Council Committees — Wednesday, April 29, 2026

BodyDenver, Colorado

SessionCouncil Committees

DateWednesday, April 29, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:29:17

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:00

Hey Denver.

0:01

It's time for this biweekly meeting of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee of Denver City Council.

0:10

Join us for the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee starting now.

0:19

All right, there we go.

0:22

Welcome to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

0:24

My name is Chante Lewis, and I serve the residents of District 8.

0:28

Today is April 29th of 2026.

0:31

And we can start with a round of introductions before we get into an action item in a briefing.

0:35

Councilman Heights.

0:41

Daryl Watson, flying district nine.

0:43

Great, and we can go online to Pro Tim.

0:47

Hi, good afternoon, Diana Romero Campbell, Southeast Denver, District 4.

0:52

Thank you.

0:53

All right, with that, we um have up first an action item from CASER.

0:57

They are going to be presenting on the Energized Denver Code update.

1:00

And so if you all join us at the table, introduce yourselves and then you can jump in.

1:14

Good afternoon, Council members.

1:15

I'm Liz Babcock, the executive director of Denver's Climate Office.

1:18

And I'm Sharon Jade, manager of the Energized Denver team.

1:25

Yep.

1:27

Thank you.

1:27

So we are bringing to you a request to update our ordinance that uh governs the Energized Denver Building Performance Policy.

1:38

So our Energized Denver Performance Policy is an energy efficiency requirement.

1:42

The policy requires each building to meet a certain level of energy efficiency through operations and equipment improvements to each building.

1:51

We have two different building size categories.

1:53

We have our smaller buildings, which are 5,000 to 24,999 square feet, and that's approximately 8,000 buildings in the city of Denver.

2:03

They must upgrade their lighting to LED or install solar to meet 20% of their energy usage.

2:09

For our larger buildings that are 25,000 square feet larger, it's approximately 3,000 buildings in the city of Denver.

2:17

They must meet certain levels of energy efficiency based on building type by 2032.

2:23

So what the building performance policy is not, it's not an electrification requirement.

2:28

Buildings are not required to electrify to be in compliance.

2:31

It's not a mandate to replace HVAC systems, replacing space and water heating systems before the end of system life is not required.

2:40

And it's not a 30% energy reduction requirement for every building.

2:44

The ordinance's overarching goal is a 30% reduction in energy use, but each building's target is unique.

2:52

So the policy has actually been around for about 10 years now.

2:56

This is its 10-year anniversary.

2:58

We've done a lot of engagement over that 10 years.

3:01

It originally started in 2016 with the Energized Denver Task Force, which created the original ordinance, which was a benchmarking requirement for buildings 25,000 square feet larger.

3:13

A performance policy was actually recommended at that time, but not included.

3:18

Then we started implementing the benchmarking ordinance for those larger buildings.

3:22

And then in 2020, we had the climate action task force, which created recommendations to develop performance requirements.

3:31

We had another task force for Energize Denver in 2021, which created the ordinance for the performance requirements for the buildings 5,000 square feet and larger.

3:41

And then in 2022, that's when the team was hired, and we actually went through the process of engaging with our stakeholders to figure out how to implement the building performance requirements.

3:52

So we set our original energy efficiency targets in 2022 in January, but then we did a six-month engagement process with our stakeholders to finalize the program details of actually how to implement it.

4:06

We did another rules update in 2023 where we actually launched two more parts of the program that we did not launch in 2022.

4:14

This was for our specialized option for manufacturing agricultural and industrial buildings and for our smaller buildings under 25,000 square feet.

4:24

That included a six to eight month process for both of those programs.

4:28

Then at the same time, we were also engaging with the state air quality control commission as the state was implementing their building performance policy to see if we could make some alignment between Denver's policy and the state's policy.

4:44

Then in 2020 or late 2024, we had heard from our stakeholders, understanding that we had some pain points with the policy that we needed to make some adjustments for.

5:05

So now, as kind of a final refinement to this, we're actually bringing some administrative updates to you to codify some of those changes in the ordinance, including some stakeholder engagement that we've done in the last month, and then we will do another rule amendment in just a couple months from now where we will do additional stakeholder engagement to refine some of those final flexibility options.

5:30

So this is our current funding and support that we offer our building owners.

5:34

We have a building management portal that we launched last year, which is a centralized platform for managing compliance, tracking progress and accessing resources.

5:44

We have one-on-one coaching services through our help desk.

5:47

So we expanded last year our support capacity and personalized consultations for building owners to develop tailored compliance strategies.

5:56

We have also been offering enhanced service provider trainings over the last year to make sure that our professionals that are supporting our building owners understand this policy and all of the flexibility options.

6:09

Then we also started a disclosure letter so you could ask for when you are selling the building, you can ask for a letter that states the compliance status of the building to then give to the new owner.

6:22

We are launching a new support hub later this year in the summer, which is a new website that's going to clearly communicate the building owner actions and their available support at each step.

6:35

It'll also be easier for them to find resources.

6:38

And then we do offer some financial assistance.

6:41

We have we launched some rebates in 2025 that are available for energy audits and professional development for facilities staff.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Energy And Environment█████████████████████████████████████████████85%

Engineering And Infrastructure███5%

Public Safety██3%

Housing Preservation█2%

Pending Litigation█2%

Small Business Opportunity█1%

Cannabis Regulation█1%

Environmental Protection█1%

Summary of Proceedings

Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Meeting - April 29, 2026

The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee of the Denver City Council met on April 29, 2026, to consider amendments to the High-Performance Existing Buildings Program (Item 26-0565) and receive a briefing from Xcel Energy on wildfire mitigation efforts. The committee also approved two consent items related to Denver International Airport contracts.

Consent Calendar

Approved a five-year, $985,875 contract with ATIS Elevator Inspections, LLC for third-party conveyance inspections at Denver International Airport (Item 26-0563).
Approved an amendment to a use and cargo facilities lease agreement with DHL Express (USA), Inc. to reflect relocation of the Satellite Badging Office at DEN, with no change to agreement length (Item 26-0564).

Discussion Items

Item 26-0565: High-Performance Existing Buildings Program Amendments – Liz Babcock and Sharon Jade from Denver's Climate Office presented proposed administrative and codifying amendments to the Energized Denver Building Performance Policy. The policy requires energy efficiency improvements for buildings 5,000 square feet and larger, with a goal of 30% energy reduction across the building stock. Since 2018, large buildings have achieved a 9% energy reduction despite adding 450 buildings, and commercial/multifamily emissions dropped from 49% to 45% of Denver's total. The amendments aim to clarify language, codify flexibility mechanisms, and align with national best practices. Key changes include extending compliance deadlines for small buildings (splitting the first group and adding one to two years), creating a simplified compliance option for residential condominiums (prescriptive or performance with a 15% reduction target), and developing a prescriptive option for restaurants (e.g., LED lighting, smart thermostats, exhaust fan timers). The committee discussed pending litigation that challenges the policy, grid resilience benefits, and specific concerns about condominium governance and restaurant energy use. No public comment was offered. The committee voted 4-0 (with three members absent) to approve the bill for filing.

Briefings

Xcel Energy Wildfire Mitigation Briefing (Item 26-0573) – Grace Ramirez and Lyle Moore presented an overview of Xcel's wildfire mitigation programs, including enhanced power line safety settings (EPSS), vegetation management (maintaining 10-foot clearance), use of AI cameras (PanOAI for smoke detection), over 100 weather stations, drones for inspection, and the public safety power shutoff (PSPS) process. They noted that Denver has not yet experienced a PSPS but came close in December 2025. The briefing covered the five-stage PSPS process (situational awareness, OEM briefings, 48-hour notifications, 24-hour notifications, de-energization, and restoration) and coordination with the Denver Office of Emergency Management, including a tabletop exercise that morning. Risk tiers were shown, with Denver mostly in Tier 1 but creeping into Tier 2, and assets in Jefferson County in Tier 3. Council members asked about communication, risk mapping, and vegetation management on private property. The briefing was received as information; no action taken.

Key Outcomes

Item 26-0565 was approved for filing by a vote of 4-0 (Councilmembers Flynn, Hinds, Sandoval, Lewis in favor; Alvidrez, Gilmore, Kashmann absent).
Consent items 26-0563 and 26-0564 were approved by consent.
The Xcel Energy briefing was received as information; no action taken.

Meeting Transcript

Hey Denver. It's time for this biweekly meeting of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee of Denver City Council. Join us for the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee starting now. All right, there we go. Welcome to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. My name is Chante Lewis, and I serve the residents of District 8. Today is April 29th of 2026. And we can start with a round of introductions before we get into an action item in a briefing. Councilman Heights. Daryl Watson, flying district nine. Great, and we can go online to Pro Tim. Hi, good afternoon, Diana Romero Campbell, Southeast Denver, District 4. Thank you. All right, with that, we um have up first an action item from CASER. They are going to be presenting on the Energized Denver Code update. And so if you all join us at the table, introduce yourselves and then you can jump in. Good afternoon, Council members. I'm Liz Babcock, the executive director of Denver's Climate Office. And I'm Sharon Jade, manager of the Energized Denver team. Yep. Thank you. So we are bringing to you a request to update our ordinance that uh governs the Energized Denver Building Performance Policy. So our Energized Denver Performance Policy is an energy efficiency requirement. The policy requires each building to meet a certain level of energy efficiency through operations and equipment improvements to each building. We have two different building size categories. We have our smaller buildings, which are 5,000 to 24,999 square feet, and that's approximately 8,000 buildings in the city of Denver. They must upgrade their lighting to LED or install solar to meet 20% of their energy usage. For our larger buildings that are 25,000 square feet larger, it's approximately 3,000 buildings in the city of Denver. They must meet certain levels of energy efficiency based on building type by 2032. So what the building performance policy is not, it's not an electrification requirement. Buildings are not required to electrify to be in compliance. It's not a mandate to replace HVAC systems, replacing space and water heating systems before the end of system life is not required. And it's not a 30% energy reduction requirement for every building. The ordinance's overarching goal is a 30% reduction in energy use, but each building's target is unique. So the policy has actually been around for about 10 years now. This is its 10-year anniversary. We've done a lot of engagement over that 10 years. It originally started in 2016 with the Energized Denver Task Force, which created the original ordinance, which was a benchmarking requirement for buildings 25,000 square feet larger. A performance policy was actually recommended at that time, but not included. Then we started implementing the benchmarking ordinance for those larger buildings. And then in 2020, we had the climate action task force, which created recommendations to develop performance requirements. We had another task force for Energize Denver in 2021, which created the ordinance for the performance requirements for the buildings 5,000 square feet and larger. And then in 2022, that's when the team was hired, and we actually went through the process of engaging with our stakeholders to figure out how to implement the building performance requirements. So we set our original energy efficiency targets in 2022 in January, but then we did a six-month engagement process with our stakeholders to finalize the program details of actually how to implement it. We did another rules update in 2023 where we actually launched two more parts of the program that we did not launch in 2022. This was for our specialized option for manufacturing agricultural and industrial buildings and for our smaller buildings under 25,000 square feet. That included a six to eight month process for both of those programs. Then at the same time, we were also engaging with the state air quality control commission as the state was implementing their building performance policy to see if we could make some alignment between Denver's policy and the state's policy. Then in 2020 or late 2024, we had heard from our stakeholders, understanding that we had some pain points with the policy that we needed to make some adjustments for. So now, as kind of a final refinement to this, we're actually bringing some administrative updates to you to codify some of those changes in the ordinance, including some stakeholder engagement that we've done in the last month, and then we will do another rule amendment in just a couple months from now where we will do additional stakeholder engagement to refine some of those final flexibility options.

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