Xcel Energy Outages, Billing and Customer Response

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• Share Frivolous, ridiculous, unneccesary outage. Anti-student, anti-consumer on Facebook Share Frivolous, ridiculous, unneccesary outage. Anti-student, anti-consumer on Twitter Share Frivolous, ridiculous, unneccesary outage. Anti-student, anti-consumer on Linkedin Email Frivolous, ridiculous, unneccesary outage. Anti-student, anti-consumer link

  Frivolous, ridiculous, unneccesary outage. Anti-student, anti-consumer

  by TaxPayingColoradan, 5 months ago

  This writing is an opinion.

  
  

  We were told our power would potentially be cut at 10 AM and return at 6 PM on 12/17. I thought it would not really be an issue, because I live in a suburb away from the front range and where this alleged issue is happening (more than an hour away). All of our power lines are underground. Our winds are not high today. Well - 10 AM hit and I along with 50 000 other Coloradans had our power cut anyway. "No problem" -- I foolishly thought at the beginning of the day. I... Continue reading

  This writing is an opinion.

  
  

  We were told our power would potentially be cut at 10 AM and return at 6 PM on 12/17. I thought it would not really be an issue, because I live in a suburb away from the front range and where this alleged issue is happening (more than an hour away). All of our power lines are underground. Our winds are not high today. Well - 10 AM hit and I along with 50 000 other Coloradans had our power cut anyway. "No problem" -- I foolishly thought at the beginning of the day. I have dealt with power outages before and could make it 8 hours. Fast forward through the day -- Xcel's own outage checker tool never showed any updates, only the very impersonal "check back in 20 minutes" prompt. At around 10 PM on 12/17, I tried to check the outage checker which has since gone offline. At the time of writing (11:30PM) -- I still do not have power more than 13 hours later.

  
  

  This is overtly negligent and poor service on behalf of Xcel. All of the food in my fridge is now spoiled (on garbage day after my trash has been picked up, where I had to drag my garbage can through my home today because the power on the garage is out). I am disgusted thinking about dealing with the rotting food smell coming from my trash for the next week. And of course, at a time where many Colorado residents are finding themselves suddenly unable to afford the same groceries that they have bought for years, what a slap in the face it is to know that Xcel very impersonally and crudely covers its own self by throwing a "not liable" disclaimer for food loss on its responsibilities webpage.

  
  

  I am devastated for the people who have medical devices connected to their home power; for hospitals and or smaller elderly care facilities who were probably more affected by this frivolous, anti-consumer outage than I could have ever possibly been. I think of the schools and local businesses which were needlessly closed in my area and other similar unaffected areas, whose students and clients were not given a chance today. I'm sure the wealthy neighborhoods nearby have plenty of power (they never seem to have an issue).

  
  

  I am shocked and surprised that Xcel energy, sitting at a $45 billion net worth, cannot figure this out for the hundreds of thousands of people who need it. There is absolutely no reason that my area, which had low wind today and was out of the line of danger, is still sitting powerless 13 hours later. Xcel now says this could last into Friday and offers no real resolution or close date. I am looking into solar generators as of today. I no longer wish to be treated like the lowest common denominator by Xcel and the other increasingly consolidated consumer options of today, who could clearly not care less about the customer experience.

  
  

  Xcel needs to immediately work with the Colorado government to address a permanent solution. The current solution -- shut off as many peoples' power as Xcel deems necessary with no announced end time -- is unacceptable. If the issue is overhead power lines, then please have Xcel go ahead and do their work to resolve those overhead power lines. It is clear that the extreme weather and winds are going to continue -- we can't just keep having Xcel shut our power off at will. Please do better; we the taxpaying citizens of Colorado will continue to seek more reliable alternative options for power if this continues.
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  Dec 17, 2025 Forced Outage

  by Mindi, 5 months ago
  We were told our power would be out from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on 12/17/25 due to high winds. I’m in Windsor, Co. we had light wind to no wind all day! There was absolutely no need for this. Then power was restored at 7:30 p.m. when winds were just starting to pick up (weather app said 35 mph gusts, felt stronger). This massive disruption had me loading up as much food as my friends fridge could hold early this morning, driving to another city to have her store it, before work, knowing the rest left in my fridge would go... Continue reading

  We were told our power would be out from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on 12/17/25 due to high winds. I’m in Windsor, Co. we had light wind to no wind all day! There was absolutely no need for this. Then power was restored at 7:30 p.m. when winds were just starting to pick up (weather app said 35 mph gusts, felt stronger). This massive disruption had me loading up as much food as my friends fridge could hold early this morning, driving to another city to have her store it, before work, knowing the rest left in my fridge would go bad after 4 hours. Hundreds of dollars on top of having to purchase fast food in another city on way home from work.Then the stress of all day hearing from others that this might happen again on 12/19 and could be out for days, per Xcels recording “so they could go check all lines”. Oh! And our lines are underground!!!! REI is on and all nearby city run electric companies did not do this forced outage. My 18 month old grandson is also sick. As the day went on, the house was colder. Once it was dark (5pm), we were at the mercy of a few candles and lantern. Still with a sick kiddo and house getting cold, with absolutely no update ALL day long. 6:00 came and went. Power finally back on at 7:30, but my cousin one mile away is at 8:45 pm still off and no word of when it’ll be back on. No notices and get get through on phone. Absolutely a huge disruption to life for nothing! Financial burden as well and now this added fear, stress, tension that they are going to do this again! And right before Christmas! The impact to our town business’ as well! There should be some type of monetary reimbursement! This is wrong, wrong, wrong and I have no retribution bc there is no other electric company I’m allowed to use! Please protect us from this monopoly and their horrid decisions that are bizarre and brand new! This is not ever been a thing!!
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  Planned Outage Today—With Minimal Wind

  by Myra, 5 months ago
  My older daughter and her family live in Windsor. Her power was out from 10 until 7:22 PM tonight. I monitored the wind all day in Windsor and the highest wind I saw was 13 mph. My granddaughter and my 18 month old great grandson were home all day and in to the early evening with no electricity. The Windsor schools were closed. The Windsor urgent care was closed and my great grandson had a fever.

  
  

  
  

  My cousin and her family live just east of Timnath, Colorado. Their power was also planned to be out all day. It is now... Continue reading

  My older daughter and her family live in Windsor. Her power was out from 10 until 7:22 PM tonight. I monitored the wind all day in Windsor and the highest wind I saw was 13 mph. My granddaughter and my 18 month old great grandson were home all day and in to the early evening with no electricity. The Windsor schools were closed. The Windsor urgent care was closed and my great grandson had a fever.

  
  

  
  

  My cousin and her family live just east of Timnath, Colorado. Their power was also planned to be out all day. It is now 7:45 PM and her power is still out. So they have a very cold house and they lost some of their Fish. Might sound like a little thing to you, but their grandchildren loved those fish. And again, virtually no wind at her house. And no update. Like I said there was so much communication ahead of time and now during the outage it is gone virtually silent.

  
  This is ridiculous and unacceptable! Plus, the other companies that provide power in our areas kept their electricity on all day. Hmmm, makes me wonder whether the deal that was done with Denver’s politicians and Xcel have anything to do with this power and control grab.
  
  This is unrelated to today’s planned shut down. But I live in Eaton, Colorado and we have at least 6 to 8 power outages a year. Never any explanation as to why. But we lose our power. I find this utterly ridiculous as well.
  
  

  My Father worked for Public Service Company of Colorado for 44 years. He is deceased. It’s a good thing because he would be brokenhearted at Xcel’s customer service. You must do better. Imagine the elderly who suffer when the power is out. Imagine the people who have to keep their medication refrigerated. Imagine the businesses that are harmed because they cannot open for business. Imagine the people who had to take time off from work to stay home with kids who couldn’t go to daycare.

  
  Somewhere I read that this planned shut down was supposed to be dynamic. If it is dynamic, how about monitoring the weather better? How about seeing that the wind is really not blowing and stopping the shutdown? Honestly, I feel like a high school civics class could’ve made better decisions.

  
  thank you for reading this!
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  While there were at least six or eight communication communications about the planned outage, when 6 o’clock hit tonight, power was still out and they had not received any updates. And it was not windy!
• Share Planned outage hurts local businesses and schools for no reason on Facebook Share Planned outage hurts local businesses and schools for no reason on Twitter Share Planned outage hurts local businesses and schools for no reason on Linkedin Email Planned outage hurts local businesses and schools for no reason link

  Planned outage hurts local businesses and schools for no reason

  by Meli, 5 months ago

  Our power at our business in unincorporated Morrison was turned off at 10am this morning for “winds” when there wasn’t even a breeze. Rather than turning power off in case it gets windy, how about turn it off when it is windy. This has had a very negative impact on our business in addition school was canceled for all of Jefferson county in case it got windy. Thousands of kids have lost a day of education for nothing. Shutting power off for whole communities in case it gets windy is not acceptable. Better management of these sorts of potential weather... Continue reading

  Our power at our business in unincorporated Morrison was turned off at 10am this morning for “winds” when there wasn’t even a breeze. Rather than turning power off in case it gets windy, how about turn it off when it is windy. This has had a very negative impact on our business in addition school was canceled for all of Jefferson county in case it got windy. Thousands of kids have lost a day of education for nothing. Shutting power off for whole communities in case it gets windy is not acceptable. Better management of these sorts of potential weather events should be implemented in the future. The power should only be turned on when it is actually a weather event happening, not preemptively before anything has happened.
• Share Planned outage inside 470 on Facebook Share Planned outage inside 470 on Twitter Share Planned outage inside 470 on Linkedin Email Planned outage inside 470 link

  Planned outage inside 470

  by Red rock resident, 5 months ago
  How an Xcel need to plan the power outage due to high winds for any residential property inside of 470 by Morrison ? I just don’t see where a major fire danger is. And if it is because this area’s powered is fed from lines west of 470 then what is Xcel doing to fix that?

  How an Xcel need to plan the power outage due to high winds for any residential property inside of 470 by Morrison ? I just don’t see where a major fire danger is. And if it is because this area’s powered is fed from lines west of 470 then what is Xcel doing to fix that?
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  Planned Power Outages

  by concernedratepayer, 5 months ago
  Excel has begun to plan power outages around high-wind days. These widespread outages can last several days and cause significant disruption to households, businesses, and essential service providers, like hospitals. Excel needs to come up with an alternate plan immediately to address high-wind risks, such as burying overhead utility infrastructure underground, etc. The response to high wind risk can not be to shut off power for an unknown number of days. This puts many individuals with limited mobility or dependent on life-sustaining equipment (such as oxygen tanks, etc) which rely on electricity at significant risk. In addition, Excel is causing... Continue reading

  Excel has begun to plan power outages around high-wind days. These widespread outages can last several days and cause significant disruption to households, businesses, and essential service providers, like hospitals. Excel needs to come up with an alternate plan immediately to address high-wind risks, such as burying overhead utility infrastructure underground, etc. The response to high wind risk can not be to shut off power for an unknown number of days. This puts many individuals with limited mobility or dependent on life-sustaining equipment (such as oxygen tanks, etc) which rely on electricity at significant risk. In addition, Excel is causing significant loss of income to business and impact to customers not being able to work at home, loss of perishable goods, etc. during these outages. They need to find an alternate way to mitigate risk to their grid without putting thousands others at risk.
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  Planned outage extended excessively

  by WhoDoesPUCWork4, 5 months ago

  On October 23, 2025, I received an automated call from Xcel Energy notifying me of a planned power outage scheduled for October 24, 2025, beginning at 9:00 a.m. and lasting until approximately 2:00 p.m. The outage was described as necessary to perform maintenance and tree trimming in the neighborhood. However, the outage extended far beyond the stated timeframe, lasting until approximately 7:30 p.m.Crews continued working well into the evening, finishing the trimming work in the dark under spotlights, which was both unexpected and disruptive for residents. This prolonged outage and late-night work represent a serious failure in planning and... Continue reading

  On October 23, 2025, I received an automated call from Xcel Energy notifying me of a planned power outage scheduled for October 24, 2025, beginning at 9:00 a.m. and lasting until approximately 2:00 p.m. The outage was described as necessary to perform maintenance and tree trimming in the neighborhood. However, the outage extended far beyond the stated timeframe, lasting until approximately 7:30 p.m.Crews continued working well into the evening, finishing the trimming work in the dark under spotlights, which was both unexpected and disruptive for residents. This prolonged outage and late-night work represent a serious failure in planning and scheduling. Xcel Energy should have adhered to the published five-hour schedule instead of dragging the work on for over ten hours. Additionally, Xcel has been butchering trees in the neighborhood for several weeks, leaving a trail of unsightly and excessively trimmed vegetation. The combination of the extended outage, disruptive work hours, and careless trimming practices has caused considerable frustration among residents.
  The complaint filed with PUC was “registered” and the deficiencies in Xcel Energy’s response were not addressed or questioned by the Commission. The Commission’s response appears to rely on Xcel Energy’s representations without critical examination.

  
  
• Share Still being charged for mid peak TOU rates as of mid December on Facebook Share Still being charged for mid peak TOU rates as of mid December on Twitter Share Still being charged for mid peak TOU rates as of mid December on Linkedin Email Still being charged for mid peak TOU rates as of mid December link

  Still being charged for mid peak TOU rates as of mid December

  by i.hate.xcel3, 5 months ago
  All communication says time of use rates changed ON November 1st. Xcel customer service says it’s actually the first full billing cycle after November 1st. Yet I’m still being charged the old rates and hours in my second billing cycle. Customer service brushed me off completely.

  All communication says time of use rates changed ON November 1st. Xcel customer service says it’s actually the first full billing cycle after November 1st. Yet I’m still being charged the old rates and hours in my second billing cycle. Customer service brushed me off completely.
• Share Billed for Services not Rendered and Xcel Refuses to Change the Bill on Facebook Share Billed for Services not Rendered and Xcel Refuses to Change the Bill on Twitter Share Billed for Services not Rendered and Xcel Refuses to Change the Bill on Linkedin Email Billed for Services not Rendered and Xcel Refuses to Change the Bill link

  Billed for Services not Rendered and Xcel Refuses to Change the Bill

  by Beau96, 5 months ago

  Xcel Energy issued a final natural gas bill based entirely on estimated usage rather than an actual meter reading.

  The estimate was explicitly based on prior-year consumption, despite materially lower usage earlier in the year, updated appliances, vacancy during the billing period, and reduced heat settings.

  Xcel has confirmed by phone that they will not perform or reconcile the bill with an actual final meter read and will not adjust the charge.

  I have been billed nearly $200 for gas that was not used and since Xcel closed the account they will not check the meter and collected payment without... Continue reading

  Xcel Energy issued a final natural gas bill based entirely on estimated usage rather than an actual meter reading.

  The estimate was explicitly based on prior-year consumption, despite materially lower usage earlier in the year, updated appliances, vacancy during the billing period, and reduced heat settings.

  Xcel has confirmed by phone that they will not perform or reconcile the bill with an actual final meter read and will not adjust the charge.

  I have been billed nearly $200 for gas that was not used and since Xcel closed the account they will not check the meter and collected payment without verifying actual consumption. I am requesting PUC review of the billing practice and whether issuing a final bill under these circumstances complies with Colorado utility regulations. Seems criminal we are being charged for services not rendered.
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  TOU Opt out request "lost"

  by enough, 5 months ago
  On 11/20/25 I called and made a request to opt out of TOU. I was told it could take up to a month to implement. I got my bill today and it showed I'm still on TOU so I called to check that the request is still on record. Apparently my TOU request was "lost." They won't agree to expedite my opt out because there's no record of my initial opt out request.

  
  

  If you make a request to opt out of TOU, I suggest you follow up with very regular phone calls to confirm they even have a record... Continue reading

  On 11/20/25 I called and made a request to opt out of TOU. I was told it could take up to a month to implement. I got my bill today and it showed I'm still on TOU so I called to check that the request is still on record. Apparently my TOU request was "lost." They won't agree to expedite my opt out because there's no record of my initial opt out request.

  
  

  If you make a request to opt out of TOU, I suggest you follow up with very regular phone calls to confirm they even have a record of it.