On March 18, 2009, ThunderRidge high school seniors, Abhi Rahman and Miranda Carey met with Mr. Bart Miller, senior attorney, office of legislative legal services in the Capitol Building. The meeting was held in the office of Senate Majority Leader, Brandon C. Shaffer's office.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the pro's and con's of drafting a house bill referred measure to allow communities to form their own energy city in Colorado. The vision of the energy city is to create a diversified economy that attracts and retains energy businesses to the new energy city. Some of the other benefits are:

- bring communities statewide into the clean energy movement
- diversify local economy
- attract high paying clean tech jobs
- solidify local tax base
- residents reap the financial rewards - energy city government pays the residents instead of the residents paying local government

Abhi Rahman stated, "It's important for Highlands Ranch and Colorado to start an open dialogue with our state leaders to discuss creative ideas and concepts that addresses our local energy needs for the next 10-20 years." Miranda Carey further added, "We thank Senator Shaffer's office for inviting us back to talk further about how the Colorado Constitution can possibly be amended that will allow any community in Colorado to perform a local vote to form an energy city."

31 ThunderRidge high school seniors over the last three years have designed an energy city strategy and tactical plan for Highlands Ranch by using a clean technology web lab incubator as the focal point for the new energy city. The energy city will offer clean-tech wet lab facilities and business mentoring services to energy-related start-up companies. The energy incubator will stimulate the local economy by attracting energy businesses, attract capital and solidify the tax base. Listed below outlines what an energy is not and is:

...is not:
- a city offering traditional services such as police, fire, water, etc.
- a city with hundreds of employees
- a city offering redundant services
- a city with a mayor/business manager
- an energy (natural gas/electric/wind/solar) provider

...is:
- a city that offers energy reduction solutions to the residents
- a city with a clean tech energy incubator that earns revenue which gets reinvested back to the residents
- a city with 4-6 employees
- a city that focuses on one service...energy

The ThunderRidge high school seniors have been lobbying the State Capitol leaders to gain support to amend the constitution that allows any Colorado community to start the process to form their own energy city. For example, an agricultural community who is forecasting a long term decline in farming revenue can decide to form an energy city (local voters decide to incorporate) and begin to leverage their farming expertise to grow an energy economy. Amending the Colorado Constitution will empower the local residents to vote on energy incorporation without having to offer traditional city services such as police, fire, etc...

The general timeline for the Colorado energy city creation and the Highlands Ranch energy incubator launch plan is:

- November, 2010 - Statewide Colorado ballot amendment vote - if passed, any community can start the energy city incorporation process
- November, 2011 - Highlands Ranch (and any community in Colorado) voters decide if they want to form their own local energy city government
- June, 2012 - Construction commences to build the 25,000 sq ft (phase 1) clean tech business incubator in Highlands Ranch
- June, 2013 - Energy incubator opens

Energy City of Highlands Ranch Website: www.hrcleantech.com