XCEL PSPS not safe

The tragic fire that engulfed a residence in Jefferson County this week should be a giant red flag about the XCEL PSPS events. Had that home been located in a more densely packed neighborhood we could have very well had another Marshall fire on our hands… the very thing a PSPS is supposed to prevent. When power is cut to 100’s of thousands of homes what you really accomplish is transferring the responsibility for safety (and the liability of an accident) from XCEL over to thousands of individuals who may or may not be equipped to handle it. The customer is suddenly thrust into an apocalyptic survival mode with increased levels of anxiety and uncertainty about protecting their assets.

To add insult to injury, the Heritage Dells neighborhood where I live experienced no unusual wind events that could be considered as historically extreme.

XCEL's decision shut down schools, businesses, traffic lights, and created far more chaos than good. The lack of traffic lights alone created untold danger to the community as people flew through intersections not realizing the light was out.

As a private for-profit corporation, XCEL has no business being in charge of deciding when and where to shut off power. Their motivations are only focused on avoiding liability and maximizing profits for the shareholders. The State needs unbiased monitors to decide if outages are truly necessary.

Customers should be compensated for all losses and the City's should continue working closely with State government to create tighter laws and safe-guards before this type of event is ever unleashed again. XCEL needs to be held responsible for improving and upgrading their infrastructure (at their expense) to be resilient, compatible and safe within the Colorado environment.

It if this going to be an ongoing ordeal, City and the State governments need to implement rebates for installation of safer back-up power sources that residents can install (battery storage or natural gas fired generators).

Sincerely, Charlie King 96 DeFrance Way, Golden