Public Safety Power Shutoff

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  Community Statement from Jack’s Bar & Grill

  by Athan, 3 months ago

  
  

  Jack’s Bar and Grill is a family-owned restaurant that has proudly served northwest Arvada for the past 15 years. We are deeply rooted in this community and committed to being a social-enterprise business — hiring and training individuals with developmental disabilities to work in kitchens throughout the Denver Metro area. Our mission has always been about more than food; it’s about opportunity, dignity, and community.

  Like many restaurants, the past five years have brought significant challenges. In December, we faced an unexpected and devastating hardship when Xcel Energy shut off electricity to our restaurant and surrounding neighborhood.

  Because of the... Continue reading

  
  

  Jack’s Bar and Grill is a family-owned restaurant that has proudly served northwest Arvada for the past 15 years. We are deeply rooted in this community and committed to being a social-enterprise business — hiring and training individuals with developmental disabilities to work in kitchens throughout the Denver Metro area. Our mission has always been about more than food; it’s about opportunity, dignity, and community.

  Like many restaurants, the past five years have brought significant challenges. In December, we faced an unexpected and devastating hardship when Xcel Energy shut off electricity to our restaurant and surrounding neighborhood.

  Because of the amount of food stored in our refrigerators and freezers, we had to act immediately to avoid total loss. We rented a refrigerated truck, moved all of our food out of the restaurant, and then moved it back days later when power was restored. Despite these efforts, we were forced to close during one of the busiest weekends of the year, resulting in an estimated $25,000 loss.

  What made this situation especially difficult is that other nearby restaurants did not lose power. Our building receives electricity through underground lines, making the outage both confusing and, to our understanding, unnecessary. For a small, already struggling business, this interruption created a serious financial hardship.

  We share this not for sympathy, but for transparency — and to highlight how fragile small, mission-driven businesses can be when critical infrastructure decisions are made without clear communication or consideration of impact.

  We remain committed to our staff, our mission, and our community, and we are grateful for the continued support of our neighbors during challenging times.

  — Jack’s Bar & Grill
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  PSPS Impacts Causing Economic Harm and Forcing Unsustainable Resiliency Costs on Small Businesses

  by SGanter, 3 months ago

  
  

  To the Colorado Public Utilities Commission,

  My name is Susan Ganter, and I am writing on behalf of The Golden Mill, a food hall and social gathering place located in Golden, Colorado. I am submitting this letter as a public comment regarding the real-world impacts of Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) on small businesses, and the difficult and costly decisions we are now being forced to consider as a result.

  In December 2025, our business experienced an extended power outage. While this outage did not occur during our peak summer season, it resulted in significant and measurable harm. We lost... Continue reading

  
  

  To the Colorado Public Utilities Commission,

  My name is Susan Ganter, and I am writing on behalf of The Golden Mill, a food hall and social gathering place located in Golden, Colorado. I am submitting this letter as a public comment regarding the real-world impacts of Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) on small businesses, and the difficult and costly decisions we are now being forced to consider as a result.

  In December 2025, our business experienced an extended power outage. While this outage did not occur during our peak summer season, it resulted in significant and measurable harm. We lost revenue during the holiday period, incurred unplanned expenses to secure emergency power, and faced widespread price gouging for temporary generators and related services during a period of high demand. These were not optional costs — they were necessary to protect food safety, preserve inventory, and avoid a complete shutdown.

  The December outage made one reality very clear: if a similar outage were to occur during the summer months — when our business is at its busiest — the impact would be catastrophic. Summer represents our highest revenue period, and it is also when PSPS events are more likely due to wildfire risk, high winds, and dry conditions. A multi-day outage during peak season would threaten the financial viability of our business.

  As a result of this experience, we are now being forced to evaluate extremely expensive capital investments — including large-scale battery storage systems (such as Tesla Megapacks) or permanent natural gas generators — not because they are economically efficient, but because the risk of extended outages has become unacceptable. These systems can cost hundreds of thousands, and in some cases millions, of dollars. For a small business, this is not a reasonable or sustainable burden to shoulder alone, especially when the underlying risk is driven by upstream grid conditions entirely outside our control.

  I want to emphasize that this is not a complaint about safety. We understand the importance of wildfire prevention and public safety. However, the current PSPS framework effectively shifts the financial burden of grid risk mitigation onto individual businesses, without providing sufficient transparency, predictability, or support.

  Based on our experience, I respectfully urge the Commission to consider the following actions:

  1. Greater Transparency Around Distribution Feeders
     Businesses should be able to easily determine which distribution feeder serves their location, whether it includes overhead segments in wildfire risk areas, and whether that feeder has been subject to past PSPS events. This information is critical for informed business planning.

  2. Clear Communication on Grid Hardening and Undergrounding Plans
     Utilities should provide publicly accessible information on whether specific feeders are scheduled for hardening, undergrounding, or other risk-reduction investments, and on what timeline. Without this visibility, businesses are forced to make long-term capital decisions in an information vacuum.

  3. Financial Support for Resiliency Investments
     If PSPS events are expected to continue or increase, small businesses need support mechanisms. This could include:

     • Grant programs for battery storage or backup generation

     • Access to low-interest or state-backed loans for resiliency infrastructure

     • Incentives for hybrid solutions that reduce outage impacts while minimizing emissions

  4. Oversight of Emergency Pricing During PSPS Events
     During our outage, we observed severe price escalation for temporary generators and emergency electrical services. The Commission should explore whether safeguards or oversight mechanisms are needed to prevent price gouging during declared PSPS or emergency events.

  5. Recognition of Economic Harm in PSPS Planning
     PSPS planning and evaluation should explicitly account for economic harm to small businesses, including lost revenue, spoiled inventory, employee impacts, and long-term viability — not solely outage duration metrics.

  Our business wants to be resilient. We want to plan responsibly. But without transparency, predictability, or financial support, PSPS events force small businesses into impossible tradeoffs between absorbing catastrophic losses or making capital investments that may not be economically viable.

  We appreciate the Commission’s role in balancing safety, reliability, and economic impact, and we respectfully ask that the lived experience of small businesses be fully considered as PSPS policies and utility investments are evaluated.

  Thank you for your time and consideration.

  Sincerely,
  Susan Ganter
  The Golden Mill
  Golden, Colorado
• Share SHUT OFF AREAS TOO BROAD and EXCESSIVE SHUT OFF TIMES on Facebook Share SHUT OFF AREAS TOO BROAD and EXCESSIVE SHUT OFF TIMES on Twitter Share SHUT OFF AREAS TOO BROAD and EXCESSIVE SHUT OFF TIMES on Linkedin Email SHUT OFF AREAS TOO BROAD and EXCESSIVE SHUT OFF TIMES link

  SHUT OFF AREAS TOO BROAD and EXCESSIVE SHUT OFF TIMES

  by DNPD, 3 months ago
  My subdivision, Red Fox Hills, was surrounded by neighborhoods that all had power. This indicates that we are not in a high risk area and is unfortunately consistent with previous shut offs. We are apparently serviced by feeder lines along 63rd St. in the Gunbarrel area. Those line should be buried. Xcel had billions in profit last year and is now asking for a rate increase for infrastructure updates. Spare me! Their notices are inconsistent, maps are wrong, they don't seem to know when we do or do not have power and shut off times are excessive.

  I unloaded a... Continue reading

  My subdivision, Red Fox Hills, was surrounded by neighborhoods that all had power. This indicates that we are not in a high risk area and is unfortunately consistent with previous shut offs. We are apparently serviced by feeder lines along 63rd St. in the Gunbarrel area. Those line should be buried. Xcel had billions in profit last year and is now asking for a rate increase for infrastructure updates. Spare me! Their notices are inconsistent, maps are wrong, they don't seem to know when we do or do not have power and shut off times are excessive.

  I unloaded a couple of hundred dollars worth of food and moved it to a friend's house because there was no estimated restoration time. My power was off for 21 hours, on for 12, then off for another 12. I can't afford to lose $200-300 worth of food each time this happens so I finally broke down and bought a solar battery pack at a cost of $1500.

  I wish Boulder hadn't given up on municipalization.

  PUC please do not approve any Xcel rate hikes with this kind of service!
• Share People had no time to prepare and had dangerous radon levels on Facebook Share People had no time to prepare and had dangerous radon levels on Twitter Share People had no time to prepare and had dangerous radon levels on Linkedin Email People had no time to prepare and had dangerous radon levels link

  People had no time to prepare and had dangerous radon levels

  by Cybercook, 3 months ago
  I wanted to mention that during the last planned power outage the radon levels in my house got above 19 without the two radon fans running on my house. I have an electronic eye radon detector I plugged into a small battery inverter during the outage so I can tell. I have invested close to $3K since then in battery backup systems for them so I can last a couple days now, but we did get a large dose of radon from this past outage. We literally had to open doors and windows and burn as hot of a fire... Continue reading

  I wanted to mention that during the last planned power outage the radon levels in my house got above 19 without the two radon fans running on my house. I have an electronic eye radon detector I plugged into a small battery inverter during the outage so I can tell. I have invested close to $3K since then in battery backup systems for them so I can last a couple days now, but we did get a large dose of radon from this past outage. We literally had to open doors and windows and burn as hot of a fire as we could in our fireplace just to get fresh air and heat with no power. They should have told people last summer that they planned on doing outages in winter so people could have contractors install whole house generators or other backup systems. Xcel instead just out of the blue said " Ready or not, here goes your power for days!" People had no time to prepare! Oh, and you didn't list Gilpin County under effected counties, but we were effected too!
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  Start-Up Surge

  by PaulGoldan, 3 months ago

  As a homeowner with an electrically controlled heating system, we were, of course, without heating during the recent power outage. Being in the same home for many years (57), we were prepared for such an event and simply brought out the camping lantern for emergency lighting and passed the time reading. It was when the power came back on that our problems started. The initial surge blew out the control circuitry for our home heating boiler. The control board needed to be special ordered and the timing couldn't have been worse. Because of delay resulting from the Christmas holiday, we... Continue reading

  As a homeowner with an electrically controlled heating system, we were, of course, without heating during the recent power outage. Being in the same home for many years (57), we were prepared for such an event and simply brought out the camping lantern for emergency lighting and passed the time reading. It was when the power came back on that our problems started. The initial surge blew out the control circuitry for our home heating boiler. The control board needed to be special ordered and the timing couldn't have been worse. Because of delay resulting from the Christmas holiday, we were without heat for over a week while the requisite $1,000 control board was delivered. Surely, some sort of soft start or alert to disconnect sensitive electronics would have avoided this costly repair.
• Share Excel has EPSS current breaker system that cuts off power instantly, please use to prevent sump pump outage on Facebook Share Excel has EPSS current breaker system that cuts off power instantly, please use to prevent sump pump outage on Twitter Share Excel has EPSS current breaker system that cuts off power instantly, please use to prevent sump pump outage on Linkedin Email Excel has EPSS current breaker system that cuts off power instantly, please use to prevent sump pump outage link

  Excel has EPSS current breaker system that cuts off power instantly, please use to prevent sump pump outage

  by Excelneedstolearnaboutpowerlineelectricity, 3 months ago

  They cut off power to our home and especially our sump pump, caused the basement to be flooded, ruining many things. No downed lines or emergency in our area, just high winds that lines and maintenance are built to withstand and did. Cut power off for days again, had to move out because of the cold and darkness. Excel needs to be replaced with what it replaced, public service. Their profit needs trump our service needs. For now, they need to learn about fuses and breakers and their own EPSS system, which "detects a "fault" (such as a tree branch... Continue reading

  They cut off power to our home and especially our sump pump, caused the basement to be flooded, ruining many things. No downed lines or emergency in our area, just high winds that lines and maintenance are built to withstand and did. Cut power off for days again, had to move out because of the cold and darkness. Excel needs to be replaced with what it replaced, public service. Their profit needs trump our service needs. For now, they need to learn about fuses and breakers and their own EPSS system, which "detects a "fault" (such as a tree branch hitting a line or a wire breaking), and the system automatically turns off power within one-tenth of a second."
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  Conflicting Information per Shut Off

  by striderav, 3 months ago

  Hi,

  Per power outage on January 16, 2026.

  I was notified that my address was in the Xcel power shut off area via e-mail. As I work from home I got up and worked early to get most of my work done before shutting down. Sometime after 11am a family member asked me to go with them to a store. I saved my work and closed out the work software. I asked the family what about the planned power outage, they said look at the map Xcel provide, it does NOT SHOW Wellington in the shut off area. Great, thus... Continue reading

  Hi,

  Per power outage on January 16, 2026.

  I was notified that my address was in the Xcel power shut off area via e-mail. As I work from home I got up and worked early to get most of my work done before shutting down. Sometime after 11am a family member asked me to go with them to a store. I saved my work and closed out the work software. I asked the family what about the planned power outage, they said look at the map Xcel provide, it does NOT SHOW Wellington in the shut off area. Great, thus I DID NOT power off my computer, plus it is on a surge protection!

  When we returned the power was out and did not come on until after 9pm on January 16, 2026. Very early on January 17, 2026, I tried to power up the computer it did not work. At the computer store the tech indicated the computer could not be repaired. Plus, the tech asks if it was in an area with power surges? I said it was on surge protection, but on January 16, 2026, I was not present when the power outage occurred, thus know idea.

  As I supply my own computer for my job, I had the expense of purchasing a new computer, new surge protecter. Thus, I had to notify my client that I would miss a work submission deadline. I did get the new system up and going a did get my work submitted on Tuesday January 20, 2026. But this is totally avoidable if I had gotten correct information per the shut off.

  The email per the shut off and map suppled, gave conflicting information, they need to do better. I DO NOT TRUST THEM. Xcel needs a 21 Century solution to the shut off issues.
• Share The recent Excel widespread power outage on Facebook Share The recent Excel widespread power outage on Twitter Share The recent Excel widespread power outage on Linkedin Email The recent Excel widespread power outage link

  The recent Excel widespread power outage

  by RC Weber, 3 months ago

  First, I understand Excel was trying to solve climate change, and wildfire issues. Thank you! Safety first! However, please do a better job of 1) targeting specific high-risk neighborhoods, and 2) warning people that this could be coming, send alerts, monitor the weather closer. "Say what you are going to say, say it, and then say it again!"

  Our building was without power yet businesses across the street had power!

  Please invest in putting power lines underground! Yes this will take capital to do so.

  I own an 8-person business in Lakewood, Colorado and the 4-day power shut-down hurt our... Continue reading

  First, I understand Excel was trying to solve climate change, and wildfire issues. Thank you! Safety first! However, please do a better job of 1) targeting specific high-risk neighborhoods, and 2) warning people that this could be coming, send alerts, monitor the weather closer. "Say what you are going to say, say it, and then say it again!"

  Our building was without power yet businesses across the street had power!

  Please invest in putting power lines underground! Yes this will take capital to do so.

  I own an 8-person business in Lakewood, Colorado and the 4-day power shut-down hurt our business. It was unexpected! Excel did a poor/nonexistent job commuting ahead of time with the Denver metro area. No or poor communication was shocking and disruptive not only to our business, but there are two Pain clinics and a Neurosurgery surgery clinic in our building. These practices have fragile patients and some needed to be carried down the stairs on gurneys.

  The shut-down happened in the run-up to our online seminar; this would have been disastrous! We also had to pay employees for four days on not working including an employee who was leaving our company so they could not help transition the team.

  Bottom line: forecast, communicate, target high-risk areas. Thank you for power and taking feedback!
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  High billing on days of no power

  by Xcalak, 3 months ago
  Recently, we were reviewing our Xcel bill. We now have the “smart” meter that bills us hour by hour and more between 5-9pm. Quite shockingly, on the 3 days in December when power was completely shut off to our house, we supposedly had one of our highest use days of power both on peak hours and off peak hours. I have reviewed several family members bills as well and am seeing the same thing — Billing for energy use on days power to homes was completely shut off. These meters are supposed to be so accurate that Xcel can tell... Continue reading

  Recently, we were reviewing our Xcel bill. We now have the “smart” meter that bills us hour by hour and more between 5-9pm. Quite shockingly, on the 3 days in December when power was completely shut off to our house, we supposedly had one of our highest use days of power both on peak hours and off peak hours. I have reviewed several family members bills as well and am seeing the same thing — Billing for energy use on days power to homes was completely shut off. These meters are supposed to be so accurate that Xcel can tell if we use energy during peak times but they cant tell when we have no electricity use at all and just “estimate” a high usage? This seems like utility fraud to me….
• Share Tired of 30+ years of Xcel power outages, resent $pending $2.5k on transfer switch on Facebook Share Tired of 30+ years of Xcel power outages, resent $pending $2.5k on transfer switch on Twitter Share Tired of 30+ years of Xcel power outages, resent $pending $2.5k on transfer switch on Linkedin Email Tired of 30+ years of Xcel power outages, resent $pending $2.5k on transfer switch link

  Tired of 30+ years of Xcel power outages, resent $pending $2.5k on transfer switch

  by BartWindrum, 3 months ago

  Yesterday January 26 2025 we again lost power on Shanahan Ridge in SW Boulder. Since we happened to have an out of town appointment we observed that the outage, unlike some previous apparently micro-localized outages, this one extended a bit geographically (the traffic signal at Hwy 93 and Eldorado Drive was out).

  
  

  We've lived in a Shanahan Ridge townhome (80305) for 30+ years. We have NOT been tracking/documenting the many outages we experience. I'll note the 60 hour outage of Sept 2013 during the "flood" and resulting stringing of the above ground "extension cord" as I called across the Shanahan... Continue reading

  Yesterday January 26 2025 we again lost power on Shanahan Ridge in SW Boulder. Since we happened to have an out of town appointment we observed that the outage, unlike some previous apparently micro-localized outages, this one extended a bit geographically (the traffic signal at Hwy 93 and Eldorado Drive was out).

  
  

  We've lived in a Shanahan Ridge townhome (80305) for 30+ years. We have NOT been tracking/documenting the many outages we experience. I'll note the 60 hour outage of Sept 2013 during the "flood" and resulting stringing of the above ground "extension cord" as I called across the Shanahan ranch and subsequent helicopter-supported work to upgrade power poles across (some of?) SW Boulder's open space backdrop.

  
  

  That acknowledged as a frame of sorts, we're TIRED of repeated outages. We now feel more or less targeted. It seems that if power's going out it'll be here. WE WANT XCEL TO INVEST IN REJIGGERING ITS SYSTEM TO ALLEVIATE THESE REPEATING OUTAGES.

  
  

  I'll note that after the April 2025 2-day outage (a PSPS if I recall – they'd announced 24 hrs but it stretch to 48 and wreaked major havoc across Boulder) I purchased and had installed a $2500 transfer switch system (10-rocker; needed a junction box to wire it to our main panel, so additional electrician time). Back then I figured que cera cera and was glad to have the option. Functionally I still am glad but now resent being put in the position of having to spend that money.