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the 2009 HRMD, Douglas County Commissioners and HRCA Energy City
Presentation
SURVEY
PURPOSE:
In April 2009, the ThunderRidge High School seniors, in coordination with
the math department, designed an energy city survey to better understand
if the community would support the incorporation of Highlands Ranch as
an energy city.
38% of Highlands Ranch homeowners indicated they are either “Often” or “Frequently”
concerned about their reliance and dependence on 3rd
party energy sources (e.g. Xcel, Shell, etc.).
59% of the homeowners surveyed are either "Likely" or "Extremely Likely" to
support amending the Colorado Constitution to allow a community in
65% of the Highlands Ranch homeowners would vote in favor of forming an
energy city that had a clean tech energy incubator. 7% of the survey
respondents reported back they would probably not be in favor of this
type of vote. 7% of the survey population stated they would not
support this initiative at all. 20% stated they were unsure.
In regards to funding the energy city incubator in Highlands Ranch, over
68% of the survey respondents supported a tax increase of at least $5
per month. Over 4% of the responses showed they were in favor of being
taxed for the energy city incubator but felt paying less than $5 per
month was appropriate. 26% of the surveys returned indicated they did
not want to pay anything. However, 15% of this response group were in
favor of incorporating Highlands Ranch as an energy city but wanted this
service without paying for it.
63%
of the Highlands Ranch households answered “Yes,” if
they would like to see Highlands Ranch become the first energy city
on the world. 16% answered “no” and 19% had no opinion on this
question.
Instead
of a “yes” or “no” response question to incorporating Highlands
Ranch as an energy city, the survey respondents were asked how strongly
they agreed or disagreed with forming an energy-focused city. Over 59%
of the respondents “Strongly Agreed” or “Agreed” and 15% of the
respondents “Disagreed” or “Strongly disagreed” to forming an
energy city.
STATISTICALLY VALID SURVEY RESPONSE:
A survey instrument was developed in consultation with TRHS's math
department. 2,350 surveys were mailed to a stratified random
sample of Highlands Ranch homeowners using the
The following calculations were performed to determine the statistical
validity of the energy survey:
Survey Population:
27,400 (number of approximate Highlands Ranch households)
Confidence Level:
95%
Margin of Error:
.05%
Probability:
50%
Sample Size Needed:
379
COMPARISON OF SAMPLE TO THE
In general, the energy city survey sample population was considered
representative of the total Highlands Ranch homeowner population of
27,400 households.
FUNDING FOR THE ENERGY CITY
SURVEY:
100% of the survey funding came from outside private donations. No high
school or taxpayer funds were used.
How concerned are you about your home and personal reliance and
dependence on 3rd party energy sources?
Frequently
60
13.5%
Often
109
24.5%
Sometimes
159
35.7%
Seldom
71
16.0%
Never
35
7.9%
Did not answer
5
2.4%
If the Colorado Constitution was amended to allow a community to form
an energy city that focuses on only one city service; energy, would you
be supportive of this initiative?
Extremely likely
70
15.7%
Likely
193
43.3%
Not Sure
119
26.7%
Unlikely
22
4.9%
Extremely Unlikely
39
8.8%
Did not answer
2
.6%
If the Colorado registered voters had the opportunity on the November 2010 ballot to support the formation of an energy city (that
supports the construction of the clean tech energy business incubator),
would you be receptive to supporting this ballot issue?
Extremely likely
68
15.3%
Likely
221
49.7%
Not sure
87
19.6%
Unlikely
29
6.5%
Extremely Unlikely
31
7.0%
Did not answer
9
1.9%
The funding of the 25,000 sq. ft energy business incubator would cost
approximately $15 million in
Too little
25
5.6%
About right
280
62.9%
Too Much
116
26.1%
Write in own amount 20
4.5%
Did not answer
4
0.9%
Do you have any interest in seeing Highlands Ranch become the
first energy city in the world, open its doors to new energy start-up
companies, diversify the local economy and send the message to the rest
of the United States that the residents are wanting to take control and
empower themselves to reduce their reliance on 3rd party energy sources?
Yes
282
63.4%
No
70
15.7%
No opinion
85
19.1%
Did not answer 8
1.8%
Do you agree or disagree that Highlands Ranch needs to form an
energy-focused city to attract and retain clean technology energy
companies, and to eventually funnel the energy city revenue generated
back to the residents?
Strongly agree
79
17.8%
Agree
184
41.3%
Neutral
109
24.5%
Disagree
31
7.0%
Strongly disagree 34
7.6%
Did not answer
8
1.8%
The first
step in developing the energy city survey was to determine how many
Highlands Ranch residents must be surveyed for the results to be
considered statistically valid. Two website tools were consulted to
determine sample size. The two websites are: http://www.surveysystem.com/sscalc.htm#terminology
and http://calculators.stat.ucla.edu/
In creating the sample size, the TRHS Senior Energy City Research Team
first determined the level of confidence desired from the
results. In this case, a sample size that would produce results with a
95% confidence level was chosen. This means that the energy city
results obtained would be approximately within 5% of the results we
would expect to obtain if we were able to talk to every homeowner in
Highlands Ranch. This confidence level is the same one used for almost
all surveys conducted including political and newspaper surveys.
There are approximately 27,400 households in Highlands Ranch (source: HRMD records). To obtain statistically valid results, a minimum of 379 valid sample surveys were required.
A systematic
sampling approach was used. We started with the
PUBLIC COMMENTS FROM SURVEYS RETURNED
In
favor of incorporating as an energy city
“I believe this is a great opp(o)rtunity for the residents and for
Highlands Ranch to be on the innovative end (for) the future.”
“Just would need more information- but sounds like something that
would help our community in the long run.”
“I hadn't thought about this, but I think Highlands Ranch
would be a great place to lead the country in this way. Congrats on
doing this interesting project.”
“What an amazing
idea- creative thinking- excellent!”
“I think it is an
excellent idea, one that could reform the energy business, but I must
advise that it will be efficient to get the taxpayers to approve a bond
and you may be faced with resistance from big business energy companies
like Xcel and the oil companies. Good luck!”
Not
in favor of incorporating as an energy city
“Stop wasting
taxpayer dollars. This isn't
“In a capitalistic economy, any business including alternative energy
will thrive if they provide a product or service people are willing to
purchase. The research and development of a cost effective alternative
energy does not need an incubator because the current embroinic state of
development can not live outside the womb.”
“I do not like to be a wet blanket on idealistic plans, but practical
and realistic experience says: monopolistic utilities avoid duplication
and provide economies of scale impractical because of distribution and
delivery and maintenance.”
“I
don't like calling it a 'city'”
My
conclusion is someone has invented a perpetual motion machine that
creates energy. This approval is the only thing would fit in 25,000872,
the cost is only off by a factor of 1000000000.+. I
support thinking outside the box- but get closer to reality.”
(Paraphrased) “You people are F***ked up and if you do this, I will
file a class action suit against you.”
