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The PUC regulates Black Hills Energy and Xcel Energy, which both have Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) plans that have been or could be implemented, impacting consumers. PSPS events have planned outages for customers and may also have other storm-related outages.
PSPS events are implemented in order to reduce the risk of a wildfire caused by power lines or other utility infrastructure. The Public Utilities Commission does not approve or deny Black Hills or Xcel Energy the use of proactive shutoffs; however, the PUC does have an important role in ensuring that the communication, preparation and coordination of PSPS events is protective of customers.
The PUC is creating a new set of rules establishing permanent requirements and standards for public safety power shutoffs. Staff is currently working to draft these rules and welcomes input from Black Hills and Xcel Energy customers on their experiences with the most recent PSPS events. This information will help ensure that the PUC’s rules are comprehensive.
Please take a few minutes to give us your feedback through the survey or comment links below.
Please take a few minutes to give us your feedback through the survey or comment links below.
The PUC regulates Black Hills Energy and Xcel Energy, which both have Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) plans that have been or could be implemented, impacting consumers. PSPS events have planned outages for customers and may also have other storm-related outages.
PSPS events are implemented in order to reduce the risk of a wildfire caused by power lines or other utility infrastructure. The Public Utilities Commission does not approve or deny Black Hills or Xcel Energy the use of proactive shutoffs; however, the PUC does have an important role in ensuring that the communication, preparation and coordination of PSPS events is protective of customers.
The PUC is creating a new set of rules establishing permanent requirements and standards for public safety power shutoffs. Staff is currently working to draft these rules and welcomes input from Black Hills and Xcel Energy customers on their experiences with the most recent PSPS events. This information will help ensure that the PUC’s rules are comprehensive.
Please take a few minutes to give us your feedback through the survey or comment links below.
Please take a few minutes to give us your feedback through the survey or comment links below.
Have feedback for the PUC about a recent Public Safety Power Shutoff? Feel free to share here. Please note: This info will be public for other users to see.
Thank you for sharing your story with us.
Share Bury the damn power lines on FacebookShare Bury the damn power lines on TwitterShare Bury the damn power lines on LinkedinEmail Bury the damn power lines link
All these outages and loss of revenues and lawsuits and a thousand damn houses and lives within burned to the ground and still not a peep about actually correcting a root cause. Bury the damn power lines you fools!
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Thanks for potentially not causing a wildfire in the foothills. I understand most people think just because there's no high winds where there located, there power should not be turned off. The problem is we don't have power stations every 10 miles. If power is supplied by a station 50 miles away and there's high winds between it and next 50 miles, well when the power is off, it's going to affect my house.
So it might be helpful to show on a map where the power generator stations are. I know for example, whenever Morrison is offline, were offline... Continue reading
Share If you’re going to do this, reimburse us on FacebookShare If you’re going to do this, reimburse us on TwitterShare If you’re going to do this, reimburse us on LinkedinEmail If you’re going to do this, reimburse us link
This power shutoff was frustrating in various ways. 1: we don’t have power lines in our neighborhood and all surrounding neighborhoods to us had power. 2. We were made aware of the Wednesday shut off but not the Friday shut off until our power was already off on Thursday. 3. The communication from Xcel was inaccurate. Originally it said Wednesday 10am-6pm which is easy enough to plan for. When it wasn’t back on Thursday morning that became very frustrating. Then we were told it might not come back on until Sunday due to more high winds on Friday. Luckily the... Continue reading
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I received several restoration time changes knowing they were false. I had reported a tree on my neighbors power line which was a pole to pole line. It created a potential further issue of the pole collapsing and tearing away the power equipment from my home. I made several reports and so did my neighbor. After several days, no one came out to inspect or remove the tree. On Sunday a repair crew was flagged down and told about the tree. They said they were unaware of the report and was about to restore power to the line. They crew... Continue reading
Share Another Company Prioritizing Profit so that the public can bear the Negative Externalities on FacebookShare Another Company Prioritizing Profit so that the public can bear the Negative Externalities on TwitterShare Another Company Prioritizing Profit so that the public can bear the Negative Externalities on LinkedinEmail Another Company Prioritizing Profit so that the public can bear the Negative Externalities link
As is often the case, the impacts fell hardest on the most vulnerable. Many suffered spoiled food they could barely afford to replace, insulin that nearly went bad, and the fear of relying on oxygen or other medical equipment when power was restored only to be shut off again. Local restaurants and cafes, immensely frustrated, faced a weekend of losses during what should be one of the busiest times of the year, just before the Christmas holiday.
In Q3 of 2025, Xcel energy reported profits of $1.915B. That being said, every service truck I saw in our area was
Share Which came first… wind or electricity? on FacebookShare Which came first… wind or electricity? on TwitterShare Which came first… wind or electricity? on LinkedinEmail Which came first… wind or electricity? link
Another shut down on Monday. You mean to tell me after two days of “inspecting” lines a normal wind occurs on Monday and another shutdown occurs. Put a tent over this circus!
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Unfortunately with limited cellular services in some areas impacted by the shutoff emergency communication, shutoff updates and other essential communications could not be received at our location reliably. Additional coordination with service providers is needed to ensure public safety. For example, cellular service for several providers in our area became slow and unreliable as the shutoff continued. After 4 hours the landline service also failed as it is connected over fiberoptic lines and the transceivers lost power. Even using a backup power source was unable to connect until power was restored down stream. Cellular service also improved after power was... Continue reading
Share XCEL PSPS not safe on FacebookShare XCEL PSPS not safe on TwitterShare XCEL PSPS not safe on LinkedinEmail XCEL PSPS not safe link
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... Continue reading
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We have been without power for 6 days, and a total of 10 days for the 22 days of December. In all instances of power outages we have not received any clear communications from Xcel. We have lost thousands of dollars from spoiled food, to alternative heating, to lost wages, and there is no end in sight. As much as I understand the need for fire prevention and safety, there is no transparency on when they will be needed, and with our town having 50-60mph wind gusts daily, these recent weeks have led us to believe that we won’t have... Continue reading
Share XCEL you really missed the mark! on FacebookShare XCEL you really missed the mark! on TwitterShare XCEL you really missed the mark! on LinkedinEmail XCEL you really missed the mark! link
We are a family of 5 and rent a small space to another person. We lost communication to the world. We live just outside of Nederland Co and rely on WIFI to be able to communicate. The risk of a wildfire was HIGH, as we all know, and IF there was a fire, we would have had no way to be informed, nor would we be able to inform as the closest cell service is 15 minutes from our home! This fact alone is complete negligence on XCELS part.
Second, We lost a ton of food that I had just... Continue reading
