Setting a Bad Precedent

Xcel needs to have a clear and robust emergency management strategy that includes risk analysis and response triggers, as well as a robust communication strategy that is transparent to the public and held accountable by the government. If their massive and neglected infrastructure can’t safely operate in this environment, they need to use some of their record profits to make their product safer and not pass the burden of safety off to the customers who have no other choice but use this monopoly for a necessary utility, whether that burden be financial or days of lost power. We should not have to pay for their negligence.

They gave my house less than 5 hours notice after we had bought groceries for the week, and in their communication said the outage would last 22 hours. 46 hours later, with no updates from Xcel, after all the food we bought had to be thrown out and we had to find other places to shower and work, the power was finally restored. During the outage, we wondered why our power had been included in this outage, as the power lines for our neighborhood and those surrounding us have been buried for over a decade. I could see from inside my house streetlights and houses in the subdivision across the street that never lost power. Our "planned" outage became intermingled with the queue of legitimate outages, and some communities that legitimately lost power due to the wind had their power restored at least a day before we did. Although we lost food, we have the safety net to recover - there is a large portion of our community that is low income that will have a much more difficult time recovering financially from the food loss, since the food bank also lost all of their food. Although it’s great our government agencies are stepping up to extend SNAP benefits for those who need it, my tax dollars should not be going toward fixing a problem caused by a monopolistic corporation.

Xcel's communication since the event has mostly been that we all just need to get used to exactly what they did and how they did it because how they handled this situation is the new normal that we can expect going forward. They have said that *maybe* their communication could have been better, but have so far shown no remorse and taken no responsibility for the massive food loss and financial impact their lack planning and communication caused tens of thousands of people, and have indicated that any improvements to their infrastructure will be our further financial responsibility. This is all unacceptable.

If the way of the future for public safety is turning off power to prevent wildfires, that makes sense and I’m all for that, but if this manufactured problem was their showcase for how this will work, it was an absolute failure. Xcel needs to go back to the drawing board to make sure that their customers, your constituents, don't bear the brunt of their crumbling infrastructure, poor planning and haphazard communication.