4 Day "Planned" Outage, Questionable Fire Risk Reduction

My wife and I live in Morrison, and were without power from Wednesday morning through Saturday evening.

Because my wife is pregnant and could not safely be without heat, we were forced to stay in a hotel the first night of the outage. We were fortunate to find and purchase a generator the following day, but despite that, we still lost most of the food in our refrigerator.

While I understand and support the goal of reducing wildfire risk during extreme wind events, I am concerned that this approach may be creating new risks while shifting the burden almost entirely onto residents. Forcing thousands of households to operate gasoline generators, often with extension cords running across yards and driveways, introduces its own significant fire and safety hazards. It is not clear to me that these PSPS events ultimately result in a net reduction in risk.

From my perspective, the PUC needs to take the following actions:

1. Hold Xcel accountable for making the infrastructure improvements necessary to reduce or eliminate the need for PSPS events, rather than relying on large-scale power shutoffs as a recurring solution.

2. Allow for greater public utility competition in Colorado, which could incentivize improved reliability, infrastructure investment, and customer service.

3. Require Xcel to provide reimbursements or compensation for spoiled food, hotel stays, or other direct costs incurred by customers during planned or voluntary power shutoffs.