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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 12/17-12/20 Outage on FacebookShare 12/17-12/20 Outage on TwitterShare 12/17-12/20 Outage on LinkedinEmail 12/17-12/20 Outage link
We lost power around 9:30 am Wednesday, 12/17, briefly regained it around 2:30 pm on 12/18 which was actually helpful, then lost it 12/18-12/20.
We had some high wind gusts and a full-on windy period 12/17 and overnight into 12/18, otherwise, no high winds. Of course, it has been very dry and warm, but this is not unusual or unprecedented for Colorado's climate, nor is wind.
We are all aware of the tragedy of the Marshall Fire; we are also aware that this is not the norm.
We lost around $150 of food by being proactive with $200 of ice... Continue reading
Share XCEL - 50+ Years of Incompetence on FacebookShare XCEL - 50+ Years of Incompetence on TwitterShare XCEL - 50+ Years of Incompetence on LinkedinEmail XCEL - 50+ Years of Incompetence link
There is absolutely no justification for the incompetence of Xcel over the past 50+ years in designing and constructing an electrical grid that is incapable of withstanding long-known, routine environmental conditions.
I have resided in Boulder since late 1967. During the first decade of my residence (1967-1977), we routinely experienced Winter/Spring Chinooks in the 130 MPH range, this was not uncommon. Therefore, for over fifty (50) years, Xcel has constructed electrical supply systems in a known extremely high wind environment. Their current necessity to shut off power due to fire potential from wind damage to their electrical supply system is... Continue reading
Share Xcel X-Fails again! on FacebookShare Xcel X-Fails again! on TwitterShare Xcel X-Fails again! on LinkedinEmail Xcel X-Fails again! link
Xcel is NOT a public utility company it is FOR PROFIT monopoly. A monopoly BARELY regulated by the PUC! ANY rate increase requested by X-Fail is RUBBER STAMPED by the PUC. I FULLY expect there to be a rate increase request to address the system wide vulnerabilities that X-Fail has allowed exist for decades. It wasn't until the Marshall fire full exposed these vulnerabilities that was anything done. Unfortunately, what was done was to leave our fellow citizens in the dark for DAYS.
The financial impact of this will stretch into the MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. NONE of which... Continue reading
Share Worse than last time on FacebookShare Worse than last time on TwitterShare Worse than last time on LinkedinEmail Worse than last time link
Xcel has one job. That's it. So why in the world does Xcel think it's ok to just cut off power?! Why does this ridiculous "strategy" actually have a name?! Xcel has been allowed to have a monopoly, so the state has allowed them to come up with whatever crazy "plan" they want to utilize in order to continue to make huge amounts of money.
They're an enormously profitable monopoly, and they have been given free rein. Of course they will do things that help them remain incredibly profitable. Apparently they must be forced to spend money to upgrade equipment... Continue reading
Share Public safety demands fixing infrastructure on FacebookShare Public safety demands fixing infrastructure on TwitterShare Public safety demands fixing infrastructure on LinkedinEmail Public safety demands fixing infrastructure link
PSPS cannot be come the norm - Xcel fixing their infrastructure must be prioritized.
My family was privileged that we could afford to go drop $1K on a generator along with $150 in propane and $50 in ice. We lost around $200 in food by the time we could get the generator in place. I am grateful it was warm because we have 3 small children including an 8 month old baby and with our gas fireplace and gas stove could maintain enough home heat and hot water to get by, but if it had been colder we would have... Continue reading
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Let me be clear at the outset: I fully support mitigating natural disasters—especially wildfires—whenever and wherever possible. Public safety must always come first. That said, the way this recent power shutoff was executed was deeply mismanaged and remarkably tone-deaf on Xcel’s part.
It’s hard to ignore the broader context. This outage felt less like a carefully planned safety measure and more like a political pressure tactic following the state’s settlement related to the Marshall Fire. With the state unwilling to assume future fire risk, Xcel appears to be protecting itself by shifting the burden to customers. While I can understand... Continue reading
Share “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” on FacebookShare “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” on TwitterShare “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” on LinkedinEmail “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” link
We can all agree we don’t like wildfires. But what’s the reasonable response to the threat? It can’t be to shut down the power whenever the wind blows.
After the last/first Public Safety Power Shutoff (2024), the PUC insisted that Xcel better communicate with its customers. The recent double voluntary PSPS outages shows that Xcel learned little and has done little.
With little regard for its customers, Xcel sticks its head in the sand. It has neither built the infrastructure needed or developed the communication skills to keep the public updated.
What’s missing?
First, there is no reliable information about... Continue reading
Share Xcel communications have gotten WORSE in Dec. 2025 compared with Apr. 2024 on FacebookShare Xcel communications have gotten WORSE in Dec. 2025 compared with Apr. 2024 on TwitterShare Xcel communications have gotten WORSE in Dec. 2025 compared with Apr. 2024 on LinkedinEmail Xcel communications have gotten WORSE in Dec. 2025 compared with Apr. 2024 link
Let me start this story with the week BEFORE the week of the Dec. 2025 PSPS. On Dec. 9th we got multiple messages from Xcel about a power outage that we did NOT have. On Dec. 11th we got 4 phone calls from Xcel in the middle of the night about another power outage they said we had, but did NOT, which kept us awake. So the next day I talked with an Xcel tech about a possible system error that was assigning homes to the wrong Xcel power circuits. He promised an "investigation" and that I would be sent... Continue reading
Share Inadequate response by Excel for restoration on FacebookShare Inadequate response by Excel for restoration on TwitterShare Inadequate response by Excel for restoration on LinkedinEmail Inadequate response by Excel for restoration link
Having lived in Fl for most of my life I have experienced numerous loss of power incidents due to storms. The big difference between those and these PSPS is the response to restoring power. In hurricane prone areas, power companies from all over the US send trucks and crews ahead of time and are staged to begin working on power restoration asap. The response is massive and noticeable. Here there was virtually no response other than from the local crews, grossly inadequate to restore power to thousands of customers in a short time period. We saw no Excel trucks in... Continue reading
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I'm a neighbor that lives in Longmont, where I have municipal utilities and experienced exactly zero seconds of power disruption from the same two days of wind storms (my trash can certainly went on a short journey though.)
In following the coverage of the wind storm I found out that Xcel energy has posted around $7 billion in profits since 2021. Meanwhile they have been claiming it's prohibitively expensive, to the tune of hundreds of millions, to modernize our infrastructure.
From my perspective it looks a lot like Xcel energy has been pocketing the money intended for maintenance while asking... Continue reading
