Public safety demands fixing infrastructure

PSPS cannot be come the norm - Xcel fixing their infrastructure must be prioritized.

My family was privileged that we could afford to go drop $1K on a generator along with $150 in propane and $50 in ice. We lost around $200 in food by the time we could get the generator in place. I am grateful it was warm because we have 3 small children including an 8 month old baby and with our gas fireplace and gas stove could maintain enough home heat and hot water to get by, but if it had been colder we would have had to leave our home and spend more unexpected money from our family savings.

Very few people have the luxury of choosing to invest in a generator or replacing lost food instantly.

We moved to the area just before the Marshall fire and while I’m grateful for measures being taken to prevent fires, PSPS is still reactive to the larger public safety need for infrastructure that is inherently more protective than power shutdowns (which can also be grossly miscalculated based on weather forecasting vs reality. We experienced a combined 3 days without power and only the first day came with any noticeable wind in our area.)