Mayor Steve Bach is starting to sound like a broken record.

The mayor on Wednesday asked the City Council again to lead a community conversation about the future of Colorado Springs Utilities, including whether the city-owned utility’s electric generating capacity should be leased or sold.

The council serves as the Utilities Board and oversees the billion-dollar-plus, four-service enterprise.

“I think we’re at a point in time, as we were with Memorial (Health System) previously, where we need to be taking a fresh look at Utilities,” Bach said during the monthly Mayor’s Counsel meeting.

“We may very well decide that we don’t want to make any changes. But there’s enough question out there now, I think that should be a subject of open discussion,” he said.

Bach has been asking for such a review of Utilities for months. Most recently, he did so during the State of the City luncheon, drawing applause from the business community.

“I don’t think it was for me,” he said about the applause. “I think it was for the subject.”Council President Scott Hente, who serves as Utilities Board chairman, told Bach that a communitywide conversation would be healthy.

“Even if we do nothing, it’s always healthy,” he said. “I agree with you on that, but I don’t want to be in the position of throwing out the baby with the bathwater.”

Utilities has one of the highest reliability rates in the nation and traditionally has rates below average when compare to peer utility companies, Hente said. It also consistently wins JD Powers awards for customer service, he said.

“My biases are pretty well known. I just want to be open about that,” Hente said.

“I think it’s healthy to have a conversation because there’s always room for improvement, but I don’t want to get in the position of just saying, ‘We need to throw everything out and start over again.’ It’s OK to have the conversation, but let’s recognize that we have a community asset here that’s great,” he said.

Council President Pro Tem Jan Martin said she, too, was open to such conversations.

Martin said the city would have to consider the financial repercussions.

“It’s important for us not to lose sight that we’re in the middle of a billion dollar water project that has been 20 years in the making,” she said, referring to the Southern Delivery System water pipeline that Utilities is building from Pueblo Dam.

“As we go on and we talk about bond ratings and so on, we need to remember that this is one of the biggest projects this utility company has ever been involved in, so the costs are significant,” she said.

In an interview after the meeting, Bach said he was “encouraging” the council to do three things:

• First, lead an expedited community dialogue that would look at the pros and cons of leasing or selling the electric generating capacity.

“I’m not in favor of raising rates. I want that to be clear,” he said.

The Utilities Board voted Wednesday to direct the city’s Utilities Policy Advisory Committee to research the financial impacts of leasing or selling the utility’s electric generating capacity and the benefits that peer utilities provide to their communities.

• Second, if the city continues to own the utility company, Bach said he wants the council to study its governance. Right now, there are “nine lay people like myself” in charge of a “very complicated” enterprise with a billion-dollar-plus budget, he said.

“I just don’t think that’s the best way to manage such a complex organization,” he said.

The Utilities Board voted 5-0 Wednesday to hire a consultant to look at the governance of Utilities.

Councilman Merv Bennett left the meeting early but said he supported hiring a consultant. Bennett said the City Council is not only responsible for matters of the city government but serves as the board of a utility that has “become far more technical and difficult” over the years.

“I think there’s a better way of doing things,” he said.

• Finally, Bach said he wants the council to take “a fresh strategic look” at operations, including staffing levels. Bach said the utility company has twice as many employees as the city government in human resources information technology and finance.

“This is a time for our city to rethink everything we’re doing top to bottom. That’s healthy. Most successful organizations do that periodically,” Bach said.

“I’m not picking on Utilities, although it’s our, by far, greatest asset with a huge budget.

I think it’s important for us to rethink everything we’re doing, to reinvent, to innovate.”

Mayor Steve Bach talks Wednesday with City Council members, left to right, Lisa Czelatdko, Jan Martin, Tim Leigh and Brandy Williams at the table. Photo by