XCEL creates a mess trying to prevent a disaster

Xcel cut the power to my subdivision pre-emptively despite the fact that we have no overhead lines. The neighborhoods surrounding ours had power with lights visible throughout the outage.When I checked Xcel’s outage website for an estimate of when power might be restored at my address it said “no outage detected.” All my neighbors got that same result. After my power came back on I got a text saying my power might remain off.

It seemed like they didn’t know who did or didn’t have power. (With no estimate of the duration of the outage I drove to Longmont and spent another $20 on ice to try to keep food from spoiling only to return home and find the power on at hour 27.)
Friends reported power out in Boulder not in blocks of areas but in half of one street and not the other half.It was hard to discern the rationale for which areas had power and which didn’t. My subdivision, Red Fox Hills, had power cut while 2 blocks away power stayed on. And the Boulder Country Club area across the field also had power.

It seemed like a disorganized mess calculated to protect Xcel from lawsuits. They should focus on keeping their infrastructure safe. I hope this isn’t going to happen every time we have high wind warnings!