Spotty illogical outage

Hello,

I am writing to express my extreme dissatisfaction over the power outage that affected northwest Arvada in December 2025. I've waited to write to calm down and gather my thoughts. I feel this outage was a mess.

The December 2025 Excel power outage was a disaster. Sure it made Xcel comfortable. I had power Wednesday Dec. 17^th and Thursday Dec. 18^th, but then lost power Friday morning Dec. 19^th at 5:45 a.m. when there was not a breath of wind in my neighborhood. The outage continued for the next 28 hours while my neighborhood, the Whisper Creek development, experienced light wind or no wind at all. While walking in my neighborhood, I met people who lived a block or two away who retained power through the entire outage. And the King Soopers and retail businesses along Indiana and Candelas Parkway, less than a mile away to the west, and closer to highway 93 had power the entire time!!!!!. A storage facility just north of Whisper Creek and residences along highway 128 to the north had power the entire time. I could see dust clouds from my north facing window along 128 that were so large they looked like smoke. But they still had power. A portion of the Candelas development to the west and closer to highway 93 had power the entire time.

What was the logic? How did my more eastern residential neighborhood have spotty outages when businesses and residences west and north in higher wind areas retained power?? Why did some homes in my neighborhood have power and I did not? My neighborhood is newer and all power lines are buried.

I called Xcel to get more information and received a bland, useless, courteous response telling me there was an outage in my area and they would update when they had information.

Communications and status updates were poor. Selection of residential areas to cut power from was spotty, illogical and poorly managed. If Xcel is going to cut power, they should be more selective of the areas chosen instead of applying massive outages to areas not affected by the winds. And they should absolutely cut power to areas to the west near highway 93 that could affect more eastern locations. Again, there should have been no outage in my area. We did not experience the high winds.

It was lucky the temperatures were so mild. Freezing pipes and inability to stay in homes could have made it so much worse in locations not experiencing wind. The loss of all access to communications was a big problem. We had no way to know what was going on as cell phones died with no power to charge. And computers and television were not available. The financial impact of food loss and cost to stay in hotels would have made it much worse. And the entire time, my neighborhood had light or no wind.

As a whole, I’m disgusted with this outage. Xcel was quick to shut down, communication was non-existent, and they restored at a snail’s pace. My neighborhood should have never lost power. This was an absolute\ mess with no meaningful justification.

Is this going to become a norm every time the wind blows??? This felt more like a vengeance and retribution tactic for the Marshal fire and settlement than an effort to provide public safety. Almost four years to the day and the power lines along highway 93 have not been buried. No visible effort has been made to prevent the same situation from recurring. Yet my utility rates are on the rise and my husband just read that Xcel will be raising it’s prices by 10% next August. Xcel is experiencing great profits. Are they trying to recoup their lawsuit penalty on the back of poor consumers who have no other affordable choice for gas and power? Where does this end??? How is this action justified???

I’m writing to express my extreme frustration and dissatisfaction of how this was managed. We're lucky there was no one in my home with a medical condition requiring electricity. I don’t know how those people managed. I am asking you, as someone with authority and power to make a difference in how this is done, to ensure this kind of activity is better managed and not used as a retribution tool. There has to be improved responsiveness and communications to minimize the impact on Colorado residents. There has to be justification for areas affected by outages, significant improvement in regional outage management, communication of restoration progress, and an enormous improvement in the time to restore utilities and accountability for these activities. How do they justify the cost increase??? Aren’t these approved through you??? It has become so expensive to live here already that we can't afford continued cost increases and the impact power outages. And there seem to be no consequences for these practices. I am still disgusted. There has to be a better way.

From your website: The PUC is responsible for ensuring the availability of safe, reliable, adequate and efficient electric, gas, steam and water services to utility customers at rates that are just, reasonable, and not discriminatory. To accomplish this, the PUC regulates (or oversees) a range of topics including electric and gas rates charged by utilities, safety investments, clean energy plans, and transportation electrification.

REALLY?? Higher rates again?????

Please help the consumer instead of what feels like bending to big business!!

I am frustrated and feeling helpless! Who really looks out for the consumer?????

It seems like no one.