Invest in some technology!

Communication is never going to be perfect. Communicate an outage too early and the weather forecast might change. However, we live in an area that is defined as a "high wind" area. So what is the criteria for an outage? 75 mph winds and high fire danger as defined by the NWS and then agreed to by Xcel lawyers? I get 75 mph winds at my house 6 times a year and it is dry every fall. What is the plan going forward to alleviate a 3-day outrage for 6 hours of wind? The NWS already has wind monitors up and down the front range. How about you talk to your people in the IT department about how to instrument, monitor and automate your line surveillance to negate the need for humans to visually inspect every line. NWS wind data is publicly available. This might sound earth shattering, but you could actually tie your control systems into real time wind data and automate your shutdowns. Although on the other hand I would have not been able to enjoy bike riding with my son in the otherwise beautiful weather Wednesday morning and Friday afternoon while he was out of school.(sc)