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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 Lack of Transparency Unacceptable on FacebookShare Lack of Transparency Unacceptable on TwitterShare Lack of Transparency Unacceptable on LinkedinEmail Lack of Transparency Unacceptable link
I live in JeffCo near Morrison. Half of our neighborhood has power and the other half doesn't. One of my neighbors less than .4 mile from me has power. Is my half of the neighborhood more at risk of fire than the other? Is there any expectation that our power goes back on sometime today (12/18) when it's been out since 10am 12/17? Do we know if there are downed power lines? Will the power be out through Friday 12/19 and if so until what time? We have no answers to any of our questions because we have had ZERO... Continue reading
Share Arbitrary and unacceptable PSPS outage causing health, safety, and economic harm in Arvada on FacebookShare Arbitrary and unacceptable PSPS outage causing health, safety, and economic harm in Arvada on TwitterShare Arbitrary and unacceptable PSPS outage causing health, safety, and economic harm in Arvada on LinkedinEmail Arbitrary and unacceptable PSPS outage causing health, safety, and economic harm in Arvada link
On December 17, 2025, Xcel Energy cut power to my neighborhood in west Arvada under a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) without actual high-risk conditions. (Neighborhood: Sunrise Ridge.)
The most troubling aspect is how arbitrary and unnecessary this shutdown appears to be. All surrounding neighborhoods — including areas that are more exposed to wind — have had power restored or were never shut off, while our neighborhood remains de-energized. This inconsistency makes it clear that if there were a legitimate ongoing wildfire risk, power would not have been restored to adjacent areas. Xcel has provided no explanation for why our
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I strongly support the effort to reduce wildfire risk. Unfortunately this has been horribly mismanaged. It seems like there was a whole lot of planning for the shutoff and no planning at all regarding restoration of power. It has been 24 hours now. We got a nice rain last night, and there is almost no wind. Xcel has not restored power, and they are not communicating at all. There doesn't even seem to be a plan to restore power. It is clear that the PUC and Xcel are not capable of managing these events. Like others, we lost hundreds of... Continue reading
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Zero wind from 3am to 10am. Light snow and power still out.
horrible communication from this monopoly. And isn't Xcel raising prices in 2026? Everybody knows they're doing this to avoid the risk of another lawsuit instead of actually fixing the issues they caused from their infrastructure
Screwing over 100,000+ families over some wind is ridiculous.
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hours. I have medication that is extremely expensive that must be refrigerated. All my communications said possibly but obviously they knew for a fact. At 10 am on the dot power went out. Hours before the wind even started. My work was also closed all day. My home did not have power but my neighbors across the street did all day. No other power company does this with worst wind. There has to be a better way. I had children that needed to eat. I’ll add and forgot to put in survey that I was told at 330 my power... Continue reading
Share Lack of communication that even Xcel's own representatives find problematic on FacebookShare Lack of communication that even Xcel's own representatives find problematic on TwitterShare Lack of communication that even Xcel's own representatives find problematic on LinkedinEmail Lack of communication that even Xcel's own representatives find problematic link
I live in Evergreen, and while I understand the need for the shut off, especially given the numerous outages that happened even outside the shut off area, there has basically been no update or communication from Xcel since 10am yesterday, aside from telling us that there may need to be a shutoff on Friday as well. There is no known severity of damage, no rough estimates for restoration in nearly the entire metro. When I called their customer service, they don't have any better information and were surprised at the severity of the situation and lack of updates. They at... Continue reading
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If anyone believes this is about safety of their constituents- spoiler alert - it’s not. I have lived here my entire life. I remember how utilities were under of the purvey of “the public service company of colorado”. Here’s all that is needed to be known: 1. I live in a series of neighborhoods with UNDERGROUND utilities. I also live next to a neighborhood that is on a city owned golf course. 2. xcel cut power at 9:45am yesterday and it’s still not on. “they must inspect all of the lines before energizing them” yet in a 2 mile square... Continue reading
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If this is the threshold by which Xcel will decide to shut off our power for long enough to ruin our food and have our temperatures drop inside our homes, then they have no business being a power company. We get worse winds than yesterday on a regular basis. Other than about one hour in the afternoon the winds were non-existent for all intents and purposes. And if they don’t have systems in place to reverse the power outage plan once it becomes clear that the forecast was way off, they shouldn’t be a power company. Furthermore, if they plan... Continue reading
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I lost power at 9:40 am now it’s 22 hours later and I still have no power and there was barely wind. I have had to throw out all my food. Xcel is saying we won’t have power for 3 days when they originally told us 4 hours. This is not ok. This is not because of the wind this is because Xcel has low reserves and they don’t want to buy power at a premium rate from other iso. We have had much worse wind in Arvada with no lost power. This is not about safety but about Xcel... Continue reading
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Inexcusable! I live in Evergreen, 80439Received an email saying we MIGHT be impacted at noon on Wednesday. Power was shut off at 10am. A small breeze started around until 4pm. It was 10x as bad last week, yet not a peep from Xcel!The decision to shutdown at 10am was inexcusable! We lost full days of income at work (we both work from home), kids missed Finals, and the $500 of Xmas groceries are now garbage!! Why can a power company force a shutdown bc something “might” happen? Why - bc they have fancy new lawyers telling them
