Should the city of Pueblo break its agreement with Black Hills Energy, efforts for municipalization must be countywide, Pueblo County Commissioner Garrison Ortiz at a town hall meeting Saturday in Pueblo West.

"It affects Pueblo County as a whole," Ortiz said at PJ's Coffee. “As commissioners, we want to ensure that everybody is being considered. While it may be an effort driven by (Pueblo), we have residents outside the city limits, and their rates need to be a top concern as well."

Currently, electric service in Pueblo West is shared between Black Hills Energy and San Isabel Electric. If the city of Pueblo took Black Hills out of the equation and adopted a city-run electric utility, that could open the door to have three electric companies servicing Pueblo County. Not considering residents outside of Pueblo city limits would be a mistake, he said.

"A move like that is very substantial," Ortiz said. "It would be a shame to just address that in the city limits, and not county-wide."

The idea seemed to resonate with some in attendance.

"Black Hills is a 900-pound gorilla and they're the biggest bully in the area," Pueblo West resident Melvin Manrose said. "The commissioners are trying to weigh what citizens want and what energy we need, and I think that Black Hills really needs to be reigned in."

Regarding the Joe Martinez Boulevard extension, one of the capital projects included in the 1A Community Improvement Program passed by county voters in 2016, engineers estimate it would cost about $20 million, Ortiz said.

He said that he's exploring whether it would be more financially feasible to instead extend Spaulding Avenue to Pueblo Boulevard

"For an alternative off of Spaulding, I was told it would be about three-quarters the cost," Ortiz said. "I don't want people to think that it was a bait-and-switch, but if we could get this project done in a couple years instead of 10 years for less money, it might make real sense."

asandstrom@chieftain.com

Twitter: @ASandstromView