The Outage was the Problem, not the Communication

Xcel and the media seem to be focusing on how effectively people were notified of the upcoming power outage. Of course anyone subject to a precautionary power curtailment from the power company should be notified in advance, but it's outrageous that more than 50,000 customers had to have their power cut to ensure safety.

I live in north Boulder, not adjacent to any open space, in a neighborhood with underground power lines. My power was cut anyway. Meanwhile, the lights were blazing merrily the whole time at two large residential complexes near me.

Xcel might argue that somehow my power lines and the lines over some open space are interconnected, but if that's true, they shouldn't be! Either Xcel has divided its power systems so poorly that they have to turn off power to tens of thousands just to de-energize one line running up a hill somewhere, or they callously, randomly, and incompetently turned off power across the city in a display of fire safety theater.