Share Share your Feedback with the PUC on FacebookShare Share your Feedback with the PUC on TwitterShare Share your Feedback with the PUC on LinkedinEmail Share your Feedback with the PUC link
Update 7/24/2024
As a result of the follow up actions to the initial power shutoff in April, the PUC requested that Xcel submit to the Commission a description of what immediate improvements they will make to customer communication, preparedness and coordination with emergency responders. The PUC has received this information from Xcel which can be found here. We are seeking public input by August 13, 2024. We welcome your feedback.
Summary
Over the weekend of April 6-7, Colorado experienced a weather event that brought wind gusts in excess of 100 mph in some areas of the state and sustained high winds throughout the weekend. The outages and weather impacts were concentrated in the northern front range. Over 150,000 people across 9 counties were without power statewide during the event. 55,000 of these were the result of an intentional, precautionary outage conducted by Xcel to reduce the possibility of wildfire. The remaining outages were either due to damage to lines or use of another preventative measures..
While power outages are a frequent impact of Colorado weather events, the April storm was the first time that Xcel pro-actively deployed preventative safety outages. In addition, a significant portion of the distribution system that would normally be set to attempt to automatically re-energize was not re-powered until visual inspection by utility crews. This precautionary measure meant a longer down period than usual as field crews had to manually inspect lines that had been de-energized. These measures are used in other western states including California and Oregon.
Please share your input and personal experience so the PUC can determine whether new regulatory approaches are necessary for precautionary outages.
Update 7/24/2024
As a result of the follow up actions to the initial power shutoff in April, the PUC requested that Xcel submit to the Commission a description of what immediate improvements they will make to customer communication, preparedness and coordination with emergency responders. The PUC has received this information from Xcel which can be found here. We are seeking public input by August 13, 2024. We welcome your feedback.
Summary
Over the weekend of April 6-7, Colorado experienced a weather event that brought wind gusts in excess of 100 mph in some areas of the state and sustained high winds throughout the weekend. The outages and weather impacts were concentrated in the northern front range. Over 150,000 people across 9 counties were without power statewide during the event. 55,000 of these were the result of an intentional, precautionary outage conducted by Xcel to reduce the possibility of wildfire. The remaining outages were either due to damage to lines or use of another preventative measures..
While power outages are a frequent impact of Colorado weather events, the April storm was the first time that Xcel pro-actively deployed preventative safety outages. In addition, a significant portion of the distribution system that would normally be set to attempt to automatically re-energize was not re-powered until visual inspection by utility crews. This precautionary measure meant a longer down period than usual as field crews had to manually inspect lines that had been de-energized. These measures are used in other western states including California and Oregon.
Please share your input and personal experience so the PUC can determine whether new regulatory approaches are necessary for precautionary outages.
Share Inexcusable outage management and communications on FacebookShare Inexcusable outage management and communications on TwitterShare Inexcusable outage management and communications on LinkedinEmail Inexcusable outage management and communications link
Management and communications of the precautionary shutdown was inexcusable, especially considering that Hollie Velasquez Horvath, regional vice president of Xcel Energy, told Denver7 the company used an intense scientific analysis before deciding to shut off power to certain areas. With this scientific analysis, there should have been a well vetted plan. Based on our experience and also validation from a number of impacted residents, a plan was not apparent. For instance, we received notification a few hours before the shutdown. If there was a scientific analysis, then this should have been at least 24 hours notification considering trend/model data. Additionally... Continue reading
Share This could have been handled so much better! on FacebookShare This could have been handled so much better! on TwitterShare This could have been handled so much better! on LinkedinEmail This could have been handled so much better! link
My husband and I were notified just a few hours ahead of time that the power outage was happening, but we were in Denver for the entire day and evening, so there was nothing we could have done in terms of moving the food in our fridge to a cooler. The lack of any real information about outage maps or an accurate time frame was very frustrating. We were lucky to have been able to go to a hotel (my husband uses a CPAP) but the lack of concern from Xcel for those in our community with far more serious... Continue reading
Share More notice would have helped on FacebookShare More notice would have helped on TwitterShare More notice would have helped on LinkedinEmail More notice would have helped link
This all took place while my wife was out of town, taking care of a sick relative. I was working during the week, stocked up on a number of easy to fix meals for me and my 15-year-old kid. We got a phone call three hours before the shutdown was to start, it went straight to message as the call was from an unfamiliar number. so it was lucky that I checked, often times those kind of calls are spam. The message said that power was to shut down in three hours, and that power was going to be out... Continue reading
Share Xcel’s unreliability continues on FacebookShare Xcel’s unreliability continues on TwitterShare Xcel’s unreliability continues on LinkedinEmail Xcel’s unreliability continues link
Though this outage lasted nearly about 20 hours, I am on an oxygen concentrator and bi-pap. Without power I can not sleep. Luckily this only ruined about $500 worth of meat and other food. Unfortunately this is not a surprise or rare occurrence. Our neighborhood experiences this about 8-12 times a year at least.
Snow=outage, wind=outage, rain= outage, bird or squirrel=outage, heck even on a calm sunny spring day we have outages. All the neighborhoods around us are will have power, except our 4 block x 2 block neighborhood will be out of power for between 4 and 24 hours.
Share 41 hours on FacebookShare 41 hours on TwitterShare 41 hours on LinkedinEmail 41 hours link
41 hours without power. No notice. No updates. We lost all our food in the freezer and refrigerator, about $600 worth of groceries. Someone should loose their job because of this!
Share Recent mandatory power outage on FacebookShare Recent mandatory power outage on TwitterShare Recent mandatory power outage on LinkedinEmail Recent mandatory power outage link
As a result of the Marshall fire, Xcel and their insurance companies, accountants and attorneys decided to implement their "safety" mandatory power outage for the first time here in Colorado, which is one of the eight states that they service.
I've lived in Roxborough Village for 22 years. It's extremely windy here several times per month. I've replaced two storm doors in five years from them being torn almost off their hinges. When the wind gusts get really bad, I can feel my house shaking when I'm on the 2nd floor. That was not the case for this last wind... Continue reading
Share Please warn us on FacebookShare Please warn us on TwitterShare Please warn us on LinkedinEmail Please warn us link
I understand the strategy for shutting off the grid during high wind days. My husband is on oxygen 24/7. We DO have a generator and transfer switch. I am sure the administration of CORE has some lead time before the grid is shut down. A text 30 minutrs before it happens or sooner would be much appreciated. I have to go outside to manually turn on the gas from the house, start the generator, connect the power cord from the generator to the outlet on the side of the home and then finally go inside to push the lever to... Continue reading
Share Did Xcel even prepare? on FacebookShare Did Xcel even prepare? on TwitterShare Did Xcel even prepare? on LinkedinEmail Did Xcel even prepare? link
We all saw it. I'm all for preventative measures for safety, but they seemed to have no clue on how to actually execute a proactive shutdown - other than the shutting off the power part. Communication was extremely poor, and (perhaps because of the poor communication, my perception is) they didn't seem to plan out how long it'd take to bring it back on and instead took wild guesses. That makes it hard to know what to do. Even worse, I direct messaged them in twitter expressing concern after they announced it may extend another day or more, and they... Continue reading
Share Excessive power outage with little notice affected Older residents in Fourmile on FacebookShare Excessive power outage with little notice affected Older residents in Fourmile on TwitterShare Excessive power outage with little notice affected Older residents in Fourmile on LinkedinEmail Excessive power outage with little notice affected Older residents in Fourmile link
Excessive power outage with little notice affected older residents in Fourmile Canyon a little west of Boulder. I received notice by phone that the power was going to be shut off at 3pm and restored at 8am the next day, which was reasonable. Xcel did little after that to notify anyone of WHEN the power would be restored, and we went without electricity for THREE full days. A few of us have portable generators, so I was able to keep my refridgerator cold enough to not lose frozen and perishable items, but my neighbors had to toss most items. We... Continue reading
Share Mr Macker on FacebookShare Mr Macker on TwitterShare Mr Macker on LinkedinEmail Mr Macker link
Power went off Saturday at 15:03 as I found out the same morning, while reading my text messages with a "maybe" but most likely. The announced timeframe for the blackout was estimated to last from 3pm to at least midnight, which seemed manageable. I filled the bathtub with cold water, because I'm on a well and without power the pumps don't work and this was a good idea because It didn't come back on before Monday evening around 5pm, which puts the duration of the outage at 50 hrs! My Partner uses an oxygen compactor at night due to long... Continue reading
