Public Safety Power Shutoff

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  Wed. was good; Fri jumped the gun

  by lifeofspice, 5 months ago
  I understand Xcel's need to turn off power to prevent fires and CYA. It must be hard.

  
  

  Wednesday, they did a great job, shutting off power around 4:30pm within moments of the wind kicking up really high in Niwot. And the power went back on a couple hours later. All made sense.

  
  

  But Friday, they really jumped the gun for Niwot! They warned us on Thurs they'd shut it off on Fri from 5am - 6 pm. And they did shut it off at 5am on Fri. But there was no wind. Not even a breeze.

  
  

  At 7:17am Fri, they... Continue reading

  I understand Xcel's need to turn off power to prevent fires and CYA. It must be hard.

  
  

  Wednesday, they did a great job, shutting off power around 4:30pm within moments of the wind kicking up really high in Niwot. And the power went back on a couple hours later. All made sense.

  
  

  But Friday, they really jumped the gun for Niwot! They warned us on Thurs they'd shut it off on Fri from 5am - 6 pm. And they did shut it off at 5am on Fri. But there was no wind. Not even a breeze.

  
  

  At 7:17am Fri, they then said it wouldn't be back on till the next day (Sat) at 10pm! And there was still barely a breeze so I was totally perplexed. Finally, by mid-afternoon the wind kicked up high enough to warrant shutoff.

  
  

  Then there was confusion. At 7:56am on Fri, they went back to saying it would be turned on that day at 6:30pm. Then at 12:53, they went back to saying it wouldn't be on till 10:30 the next night, Sat.! Then they said restoration would begin Sat am and it may take a hours or DAYS to complete.

  
  

  Again on Saturday, they said it should be restored by 10pm and it was restored by 10am...which was great. But after 45 min, it went out again. Then it finally went back on by mid day. This confusion is understandable because winds can change on a dime. But the inconsistent communications was frustrating.

  I just don't understand why they turned it off so early on Friday, so many hours before there was any worthy wind.

  They really need to start burying power lines. We pay them enough.
• Share No food no light and a newborn on Facebook Share No food no light and a newborn on Twitter Share No food no light and a newborn on Linkedin Email No food no light and a newborn link

  No food no light and a newborn

  by Mari, 5 months ago

  I gave birth last Friday. I am freshly postpartum, physically healing, emotionally raw, and caring for a newborn and a toddler. Instead of being able to recover at home in peace, my family lost power for a combined 72+ hours from Thursday through today.

  I was recently laid off and unable to find work before giving birth. Because of that, we are currently SNAP recipients. We couldn’t even afford Christmas this year. Every dollar matters. For months, I carefully budgeted, waited for sales, and bought meat and frozen items in bulk to make sure my family wouldn’t go hungry. That... Continue reading

  I gave birth last Friday. I am freshly postpartum, physically healing, emotionally raw, and caring for a newborn and a toddler. Instead of being able to recover at home in peace, my family lost power for a combined 72+ hours from Thursday through today.

  I was recently laid off and unable to find work before giving birth. Because of that, we are currently SNAP recipients. We couldn’t even afford Christmas this year. Every dollar matters. For months, I carefully budgeted, waited for sales, and bought meat and frozen items in bulk to make sure my family wouldn’t go hungry. That food was our safety net.

  And all of it is now in the garbage.

  What was supposed to be a 12-hour outage in Boulder turned into nearly four days without power. During that time, we were repeatedly told by Xcel that power would be restored “today,” only for that promise to be pushed back again and again. If there had been honest, accurate communication, I could have moved our food to relatives’ refrigerators and saved it. Instead, the constant misinformation and overpromising left us stuck in limbo until it was too late.

  We lost all our food, including stored breast milk. As a postpartum mother trying to feed a newborn, that loss is devastating. I had to pack up my children and all of our postpartum necessities for extend stays with relatives instead of being home healing and bonding. I couldn’t rest. I couldn’t establish a routine. I was constantly improvising during one of the most vulnerable moments of my life.

  The stress of this situation was overwhelming and avoidable.

  Xcel Energy is setting record profits, yet has offered no meaningful assistance to replace groceries for families who simply cannot afford to recover from losses like this. They also continue to delay burying power lines. I understand that burying every single line instantly isn’t realistic, but five years is absolutely doable, and prioritizing high-risk lines within a year is more than reasonable.

  This outage was mishandled from start to finish. The lack of transparency, accountability, and compassion turned an already difficult postpartum period into a truly awful and traumatic experience. Families like mine deserved better.
• Share Elderly Parents Undergoing Chemo Treatment on Facebook Share Elderly Parents Undergoing Chemo Treatment on Twitter Share Elderly Parents Undergoing Chemo Treatment on Linkedin Email Elderly Parents Undergoing Chemo Treatment link

  Elderly Parents Undergoing Chemo Treatment

  by Miwright, 5 months ago
  I dont even know where to begin....

  My parents live in Clear Creek County, Evergreen off Upper Bear Creek Road. They have been without power since WEDNESDAY. I dont know if any of you know this, but in some parts of Colorado, people have wells for water. In order to run a well pump you need electricity.

  My parents have been without electricity, heat, water and phone for FIVE DAYS. NO ONE CARES.

  My mother is undergoing treatment for cancer and had a chemo treatment she HAD to attend on Friday. She is now back in her home because she... Continue reading

  I dont even know where to begin....

  My parents live in Clear Creek County, Evergreen off Upper Bear Creek Road. They have been without power since WEDNESDAY. I dont know if any of you know this, but in some parts of Colorado, people have wells for water. In order to run a well pump you need electricity.

  My parents have been without electricity, heat, water and phone for FIVE DAYS. NO ONE CARES.

  My mother is undergoing treatment for cancer and had a chemo treatment she HAD to attend on Friday. She is now back in her home because she is so exhausted she does not want to leave nor has the additional funds for 5 days in a hotel.

  How dare Xcel continue to tell them their service will be restored AND it is not. Just today, Sunday, Xcel said 12:15, 12:30, 4:00, 7:30, 9:00 and NOW tomorrow at 12:30pm. Not holding our breath this will happen.

  We pay thru the nose, have to plan our electricity usage for Xcel services. AND they continually ask to raise our rates. FOR WHAT??? THIS???

  How dare you Xcel. This is a monopoly. We dont even have a choice for electricity.

  I am so furious with the lack of planning and inability to deliver services. AND not caring to put lives in danger.

  Xcel I hope you get a Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday as the rest of us are just trying to survive.

  You suck.
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  Restoration Times Misleading

  by Griggs, 5 months ago
  Because your billion dollar company is too cheap to do what is right, this incident cost me over $1200 in hotel rooms and lost food. We thought the power would be restored at 6 pm Wednesday, December 17 and it was not restored until 12 noonish Thursday, December 18, 2025. I was scheduled for knee surgery on Friday, December 19. I had to book two hotel rooms because my elderly Parents (92 and 87) were freezing Thursday morning. No one was looking out for the vulnerable.Because I couldn’t trust your restoration time, I had to book a 3rd night and... Continue reading

  Because your billion dollar company is too cheap to do what is right, this incident cost me over $1200 in hotel rooms and lost food. We thought the power would be restored at 6 pm Wednesday, December 17 and it was not restored until 12 noonish Thursday, December 18, 2025. I was scheduled for knee surgery on Friday, December 19. I had to book two hotel rooms because my elderly Parents (92 and 87) were freezing Thursday morning. No one was looking out for the vulnerable.Because I couldn’t trust your restoration time, I had to book a 3rd night and lost the money on that one. I could not come home to a house with no power and no food after total knee replacement You need to plan ahead with shelters and places people can operate their medical equipment. Do the right thing Xcel and pay to put the lines underground. You make billions to just keep for yourself. How many people died because you didn’t plan ahead with shelters for the vulnerable? You should be ashamed.
• Share Idea for a pretty quick fix to this problem on Facebook Share Idea for a pretty quick fix to this problem on Twitter Share Idea for a pretty quick fix to this problem on Linkedin Email Idea for a pretty quick fix to this problem link

  Idea for a pretty quick fix to this problem

  by AJS, 5 months ago
  I think everyone can universally agree on four things:
  

  • No one wants their house to burn down
  • The PSPS was incredibly inconvenient, lasted too long and cost people a lot of money
  • This is going to happen again
  • It will cost billions to bury lines and Xcel cannot (or will not) invest in R&D for better technology and infrastructure that will bring immediately relief

  With these things in mind, I propose Xcel begin a program that will provide people with solar powered generators for emergency back up in these events. Expensive? Yes. But a lot cheaper than a $640M lawsuit... Continue reading

  I think everyone can universally agree on four things:
  

  • No one wants their house to burn down
  • The PSPS was incredibly inconvenient, lasted too long and cost people a lot of money
  • This is going to happen again
  • It will cost billions to bury lines and Xcel cannot (or will not) invest in R&D for better technology and infrastructure that will bring immediately relief

  With these things in mind, I propose Xcel begin a program that will provide people with solar powered generators for emergency back up in these events. Expensive? Yes. But a lot cheaper than a $640M lawsuit, and a drop in the bucket for a company that posts a $1.94 billion profit. It could work one of two ways:
  
  1. Xcel could provide customers living in the PSPS area a $2000 rebate on the purchase of solar powered generators. Considering roughly 100K lost power, that is a $200M investment. But a third of the cost of a lawsuit, and barely a dent in profit.
  2. Alternatively, Xcel could partner with a highly reputable generator manufacturer to provide customers generators at a drastically reduced price - cost if possible, with special subsidies for lower income families who could not afford the investment.
  
  People are going to be more supportive of these PSPS if they know they aren't going to lose food, can still work, their kids won't freeze and they will have hot water - or even running water for customers with wells.
  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
• Share Very disappointing - cannot become the status quo on Facebook Share Very disappointing - cannot become the status quo on Twitter Share Very disappointing - cannot become the status quo on Linkedin Email Very disappointing - cannot become the status quo link

  Very disappointing - cannot become the status quo

  by JennyErwin, 5 months ago
  I had my power shut off for more than 24 hours twice within a 3-day span. This was incredibly disruptive to our work, childcare, and daily living.

  
  

  This should only be used as an absolute last resort and needs to be able to be responsive to the actual weather conditions. For the first outage, there was indeed wind. But the second outage was 36 hours and there was ZERO WIND. This is unacceptable. Why can't Xcel control the system more actively and only take action when absolutely necessary?

  And Xcel is doing absolutely nothing to help residents other than very... Continue reading

  I had my power shut off for more than 24 hours twice within a 3-day span. This was incredibly disruptive to our work, childcare, and daily living.

  
  

  This should only be used as an absolute last resort and needs to be able to be responsive to the actual weather conditions. For the first outage, there was indeed wind. But the second outage was 36 hours and there was ZERO WIND. This is unacceptable. Why can't Xcel control the system more actively and only take action when absolutely necessary?

  And Xcel is doing absolutely nothing to help residents other than very poor, unreliable communication. No compensation for life impacts, no compensation for ruined food, no compensation whatsoever. And no clear path towards avoiding this in the future. As customers, we just "have to deal." This is crazy and feels like Xcel and the PUC are both favoring shareholder returns vs. customer experience.

  What is the long-term plan here? When will this be articulated? Because this can't become the status quo.

  And who is looking at the economic and health impacts of extended (> 24 hour) power outages? What about all the elderly people who need oxygen and electricity for medical devices? What about everyone who was freezing cold because they didn't have heat? What about people who had the weekly allotment of groceries rot and now have no funds to cover replacements? What about all the impacts of shutting down the vast majority of Jefferson county (and many others) school systems and thousands of parents scrambling (and missing work) due to lack of childcare? Has this actually been calculated or looked at? What's the cost of having all these crews on-call and prepared to be dispatched?

  This cannot become the status quo. We have to demand better.
• Share We Were Lucky There Was Not Another Marshall Fire - BUT Hardships For the Elderly & Poor Were Difficult on Facebook Share We Were Lucky There Was Not Another Marshall Fire - BUT Hardships For the Elderly & Poor Were Difficult on Twitter Share We Were Lucky There Was Not Another Marshall Fire - BUT Hardships For the Elderly & Poor Were Difficult on Linkedin Email We Were Lucky There Was Not Another Marshall Fire - BUT Hardships For the Elderly & Poor Were Difficult link

  We Were Lucky There Was Not Another Marshall Fire - BUT Hardships For the Elderly & Poor Were Difficult

  by Betty, 5 months ago
  I truly understand the reasoning behind the Public Safety Power Shutoff - especially for certain areas where there are trees and other easily flammable materials next to, or under, the power lines. I remember the Marshall Fire well, and also several other fires near and in Boulder.

  But, Excel's grid is completely CRAZY. We live in "Affordable Housing" that is all electric, on 28th Street (US 36) between Valmont and Mapleton in the city of Boulder. Our power was off for 7 1/2 hours on Wednesday, 17 December. We had two brief outages on Thursday, 18 December. Our power went... Continue reading

  I truly understand the reasoning behind the Public Safety Power Shutoff - especially for certain areas where there are trees and other easily flammable materials next to, or under, the power lines. I remember the Marshall Fire well, and also several other fires near and in Boulder.

  But, Excel's grid is completely CRAZY. We live in "Affordable Housing" that is all electric, on 28th Street (US 36) between Valmont and Mapleton in the city of Boulder. Our power was off for 7 1/2 hours on Wednesday, 17 December. We had two brief outages on Thursday, 18 December. Our power went off at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, 19 December, and was restored at 8:33 p.m. on Saturday, 20 December. Businesses on both sides of 28th Street north of Valmont never lost their power; businesses south of Mapleton never lost their power (both areas I'm speaking of are within regular sight). The Excel substation on the east side of 28th Street, just north of Mapleton, never lost it's power. - But because of the crazy arrangement of Excel's power grid, we did.

  I have several illnesses, but for the last 18 months, I have been the primary care-giver for my roommate, best friend, and "sister-from-another-mother," who has stage 4 breast cancer and congestive heart failure. Her heart is, as of 3 months ago, working at less than 50% of what it should. We do not own a vehicle, as it is too expensive, and we pay almost 50% of our income just for rent. I travel by foot or bus, and we use Via Transportation for my friend's visits to her MDs, the hospital, and the Cancer Center. It is difficult for my friend to navigate the apartment with her walker - let alone in the dark with a small flashlight hanging from her walker in total darkness. She has only the use of her left hand at this time, and she is right-handed, which makes things worse at all times.

  When the power went out, I opened our 3 thermal bags and placed blocks of "fake ice" in them to keep necessary medicines cool, as well as the Ensure my friend has to drink (and it has to be cool or cold) to get her needed protein intake for the day. I put in a few other items that we didn't want to spoil. But we had no ice chests, and no ice - so everything in the refrigerator and freezer spoiled, and had to be thrown away today. More than half of our foodstuffs are gone, thanks to the power outage, and we won't have money to purchase more until the 2nd Wednesday of January, when the Social Security check arrives. I'll spend both of my pensions and my Social Security check to pay the rent on January 5th, 2026. - All of our friends had no place to store our perishable items, so we were just flat out of luck.

  We generally ate peanut butter sandwiches and drank water throughout the entire time. I could read during the day, but my friend usually watches TV or videos; she was out of luck on 3 of those 4 days. We had cold running water, and, at least, COULD flush the toilets. I offered to walk to various fast food restaurants nearby to pick up food for various meals, but my friend was afraid I'd get blown away, struck by blowing items, or hit by a vehicle as I crossed 28th Street. I went out today and used our Christmas present money to replace a few needed items from the refrigerator and freezer.

  Luckily, by staying inside and opening the only door a few times, our interior temperature only dropped 10 degrees. With the cancer and the heart failure, my friend is always cold. Having the temperature stay above 60° was a blessing. Again, I am extremely happy that there was no recurrence of a huge wildfire driven by the high winds. But it was an extremely stressful event for two older ill ladies, on their own, without transportation or communications, and absolutely ZERO power accessibility. No working telephone, radio, television, computer - nothing. One neighbor stopped by, asking to use our telephone during the ordeal, and we just laughed.

  Maybe the little strip of 28th Street in Boulder between Valmont and Mapleton should be moved to another portion of the Excel power grid? Why the heck is it connected to an - apparently - extremely high-risk area? - It's just crazy.
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  A wake up call

  by BornBoulder, 5 months ago
  During this December 2025 Xcel PSP shut off it became alarming clear that there needs to be more public safety stations set up that have backup power to help save lives of the senior and vulnerable population. Also, we need hard wired land lines back for basic communication and emergency communication. If an entire grid is electric based, it is 100% dangerous and life threatening when that grid is shut down and people have no way to reach out for help (EMT, family or friends) and no way to use other reliable generators that aren't electric based to power vital... Continue reading

  During this December 2025 Xcel PSP shut off it became alarming clear that there needs to be more public safety stations set up that have backup power to help save lives of the senior and vulnerable population. Also, we need hard wired land lines back for basic communication and emergency communication. If an entire grid is electric based, it is 100% dangerous and life threatening when that grid is shut down and people have no way to reach out for help (EMT, family or friends) and no way to use other reliable generators that aren't electric based to power vital equipment.

  
  

  Xcel's outage map was consistently inaccurate. It didn't show where crew members were on site or accurate outages. My own address didn't show as being out when we still don't have power 5 days later. More detailed and accurate information is needed to provide for the customers impacted.
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  My Neighbor Ran Low on Oxygen and Died

  by Frustrated, 5 months ago
  I live on the western side of Arvada, and my power first went out at 9:40 AM on Wednesday, and was restored around 1:00 PM on Thursday. There was absolutely no wind for hours after the power was cut, and when the wind picked up at my house, it was probably three or four in the afternoon. The second time my power went out on Friday, it was 5:40 AM and that outage lasted until around noon on Saturday. There wasn't any wind for hours again after the power was cut. I was surprised how stressful the power outages would... Continue reading

  I live on the western side of Arvada, and my power first went out at 9:40 AM on Wednesday, and was restored around 1:00 PM on Thursday. There was absolutely no wind for hours after the power was cut, and when the wind picked up at my house, it was probably three or four in the afternoon. The second time my power went out on Friday, it was 5:40 AM and that outage lasted until around noon on Saturday. There wasn't any wind for hours again after the power was cut. I was surprised how stressful the power outages would be for my family and me. We didn't have the worst experience with the power outage though. During the second power outage, our neighbor passes away. She was frail and on oxygen, but the stress of the power outage with no heat and the fact that she ran low on oxygen was too much for her body and she died. By the time the police were finishing their investigation, it was dark out, and the police were using flashlights. Nothing about that seems dignified and seems like it could increase the trauma for the family in an already stressful situation.

  I understand that we need to figure out how to prevent another Marshall Fire. Power lines need to be buried. Xcel makes a lot of profit off of their customers and keeps wanting to raise rates. They need to invest back into their own business and bury the lines. The lines along Indiana are a hazard with all of the dead grass by Rocky Flats. I have seen powerlines spark behind 72nd Ave where there are houses. I feel as though Xcel is attempting to force us to pay to bury the lines by cutting our power much earlier than they need to and perhaps to a much bigger widespread area. If you need to cut the power, please make sure that it is justified by actual wind, not just the prediction of it. We shouldn't be without power for hours longer than we need to. People have lost food, money, and even lives because of your actions.
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  Forced outages an outrage

  by Kristi M. , 5 months ago
  We have lived in the North Table Mountain area for 22+ years. Xcel turned off our power Wednesday morning, hours before there was even so much as a breeze. We’ve had much worse wind. But at least we had power. Over the next four days our power was off for 54 hours, putting us in the Dark Ages along with thousands of other residents.

  
  

  Xcel needs to fix their flawed infrastructure instead of shutting down the entire system.

  And stop wasting our money on PR campaign ads telling everyone how great you are, Xcel. Show us instead.

  Communications were inaccurate... Continue reading

  We have lived in the North Table Mountain area for 22+ years. Xcel turned off our power Wednesday morning, hours before there was even so much as a breeze. We’ve had much worse wind. But at least we had power. Over the next four days our power was off for 54 hours, putting us in the Dark Ages along with thousands of other residents.

  
  

  Xcel needs to fix their flawed infrastructure instead of shutting down the entire system.

  And stop wasting our money on PR campaign ads telling everyone how great you are, Xcel. Show us instead.

  Communications were inaccurate and misleading. We had precious little time to prepare for this prolonged upheaval. Whoever does weather forecasting missed it by a long shot in our area. Xcel has created an environment of distrust.

  If we had a choice of utility providers, it sure wouldn’t be Xcel