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And it didn't help that earlier this month a Colorado PUC administrative law judge told the company it hadn't shown sufficient benefits from its Boulder SmartGridCity project to justify recovering the remaining $16.6 million in project costs it says it is owed, according to the Denver Post. Xcel has not made a decision on whether it will appeal the ruling. If it does, the matter will get kicked back to the PUC for a final decision. If not, the judge's decision stands although the PUC can review it. The city, of course, endorsed the judge's decision.

If an appeal is filed, the city, consumer counsel and others involved in the case will have two weeks to provide a response.

A city council vote in favor of municipalization would mean the city buys the existing electric grid infrastructure and operates it. The vote is expected in April. If the city goes through with it, the Inside Climate News article said it would be the first municipal utility created with the intent to adopt more clean energy and reduce pollution. Support for a municipal utility is very strong but not unanimous in the council and community.

Naturally, the two sides are very far apart on what the cost will be. Boulder anticipates it would cost $290 million to fire up its own utility while Xcel says the price will be a lot higher: $1.2 billion. Under Colorado law, Xcel would be required to at least consider the city's proposal but a company official said Xcel has "no intentions or desire" to sell.

The company also said the city would never be able to produce as much renewable energy as it could, or as cheaply. But the city is thoroughly disenchanted with Xcel on that point and others, including the SmartGridCity construction costs tripling since the project began in 2008 and related problems.

From the looks of things, the marriage counseling option is long gone.

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Boulder: Xcel promised more than SmartGridCity delivered; shouldn't get $16.5M