Public Safety Power Shutoff

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• Share Bury the damn power lines on Facebook Share Bury the damn power lines on Twitter Share Bury the damn power lines on Linkedin Email Bury the damn power lines link

  Bury the damn power lines

  by RegalBeagle, 5 months ago
  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!

  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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  Had no problems with being proactive

  by Viva, 5 months ago
  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

  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 and were about 8 miles north of Morrison.

  
  

  At the end of the day, people are just venting because they don't understand the complexities of the power grid, communication lines (Telephone/Internet).

  Thanks,

  Tim
• Share If you’re going to do this, reimburse us on Facebook Share If you’re going to do this, reimburse us on Twitter Share If you’re going to do this, reimburse us on Linkedin Email If you’re going to do this, reimburse us link

  If you’re going to do this, reimburse us

  by Cmanning, 5 months ago
  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

  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 power did come back on Thursday afternoon for a short time but then the Friday outage was longer. Originally told 5am-6pm on Friday then told that it would last until 6pm Saturday for it then to be turned on around 11am. Terrible communication when trying to plan for meals, charging, etc. We put as much food as we could into a cooler with ice packs but had to throw out hundreds of dollars worth. For Xcel to not compensate people for that loss is unacceptable. We didn’t have it nearly as bad as the restaurants and businesses in the area.
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  Unrealistic and oblivious

  by Jbmartin , 5 months ago
  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

  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 removed the tree from the line leaving it lying across the roadway indicating it was not their job to remove the tree. The pole was no repaired and they said as long as it wasn't broke it should be fine. Stop over promising and under delivering. Try under promising and over delivering. It's very difficult living in the mountains and navigating extended outages with false hope of restoration. Why would they restore power with a tree on the line or not fix the pole which could cause further damage which would become my financial responsibility since it's pole to house when it could be avoided. Very frustrated and disappointed.
• Share Another Company Prioritizing Profit so that the public can bear the Negative Externalities on Facebook Share Another Company Prioritizing Profit so that the public can bear the Negative Externalities on Twitter Share Another Company Prioritizing Profit so that the public can bear the Negative Externalities on Linkedin Email Another Company Prioritizing Profit so that the public can bear the Negative Externalities link

  Another Company Prioritizing Profit so that the public can bear the Negative Externalities

  by Screenname3, 5 months ago

  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

  ... Continue reading

  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 old, covered in rust, and it is clear that they have been prioritizing corporate profits, by not reinvesting into the infrastructure that makes them billions. Why is it that customers are forced to bear the impacts of a company that is not undergrounding their lines and reinforcing their poles in a timely manner? Where are the detection systems that would allow the company to proactively fortify the right parts of the grid? Where are the fire resistant equipment investments? Wind storms are the new normal, and no longer a “once in a 100years” event. For a company has the insight and planning capabilities of Xcel, we demand more.
• Share Which came first… wind or electricity? on Facebook Share Which came first… wind or electricity? on Twitter Share Which came first… wind or electricity? on Linkedin Email Which came first… wind or electricity? link

  Which came first… wind or electricity?

  by sthompso80, 5 months ago
  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!

  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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  Unsustainable solution

  by sicnarf, 5 months ago

  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

  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 restored.

  The outages should have been shorter and tied to an active metric of conditions rather than just the weather forecast. While there were high and in some areas destructive gusts of wind, the sustained wind was nothing like the Marshall fire and this was not a similar event. The actual conditions should have instigated the time of the shutoff and the time to resume services rather than a strict reliance to the forecast. The shutoff could have been shortened by several hours on both ends both days.

  Outage maps were unreliable, while some areas were included in the outage area they still had power. For example the Candelas neighborhood had power throughout the outage though marked on the outage map while Leyden was on the map and did have an outage. Both neighborhoods are geographically similar and received similar wind with different outages with similar ages to the neighborhoods so they should have similar electrical infrastructure. Other neighborhoods outside of the map lost power at the same time as the planned outage so it is hard to see them as being unplanned outages.

  Additional communication after the shutoff has been concluded should include what repairs, if any, were required to bring each impacted customers power back online, this will help customers to understand why it was 12-20 hours after the event ended to restore power.

  Continual shutdowns every time there is a forecast wind event will be unsustainable in the long term and more needs to be done to be proactive to reduce the need for public safety power shutoffs. Until the provider is financially obligated to assist with lost food, lost productivity and other losses from the planned shutdown they will grow longer in time and more frequent providing additional frustration to the public and businesses.
• Share XCEL PSPS not safe on Facebook Share XCEL PSPS not safe on Twitter Share XCEL PSPS not safe on Linkedin Email XCEL PSPS not safe link

  XCEL PSPS not safe

  by Cking1, 5 months ago

  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

  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
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  This is unacceptable

  by Cplasencia, 5 months ago
  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

  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 power for almost half of the winter. Something needs to change

  
  
• Share XCEL you really missed the mark! on Facebook Share XCEL you really missed the mark! on Twitter Share XCEL you really missed the mark! on Linkedin Email XCEL you really missed the mark! link

  XCEL you really missed the mark!

  by MRT, 5 months ago
  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

  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 bought (the first round of shut offs), meat and perishables- I won't spend time complaining about this too much as I know many restaurants faired much worse.

  Third, My career was compromised. I am a birth doula and was on-call for a family that relys on the ability to get ahold of me. This was a Major strain on my clients to not be able to reach me during the night and a major source of stress on me to be in the black!

  Fourth, We are on a well and when our electricity is shut off, this means we have no water at all. Our towns electricity was also cut, this means finding water was very difficult.

  Xcel should be held responsible for the fires that started the Marshall Fire. Why are they making the rest of us suffer.