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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.
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I live in a neighborhood with underground utilities. There is little to no danger of a downed line starting a fire. In addition, the windy was gusty, but the environment was not dry! In fact there was more moisture than normal for early April. This was merely a political stunt by xcel energy. There should be compensation for each and every household whose power was intentionally turned off. I can’t believe this is even legal..
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Our power was out for 45 hours. If this is to happen again, it is important that:
1. the notifications come early and often. Xcel left a voicemail on our home phone a couple hours before the shutoff but we didn't get it because we didn't have power to check voicemails. Why can't emergency alert systems be used for something like this?
2. Don't promise that the preemptive shutdown will end by noon Sunday. When it didn't, we were worried, didn't know what to plan for, and there was no way for us to find out what was going on.
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On April 6, 2024, my wife and I were taking care of our 2.5 year old grand daughter and 5 year old grandson, who were spending a four day weekend with us while their parents were out of town. I received a notice at roughly 10.00 am on Saturday 4-6-24 that Xcel would be turning off our electrical power. No indication was given as to how long it would be out, or whom to contact with any questions. It was quite cool that weekend and our house was already cold inside.
I think in that Xcel did their job. I have friends that were profoundly effected by the Marshall Fire and I know for a fact that they would rather spend a few hours or even a few days without power to have the assurance that their home would still be there to come home to. We choose to live in a City and County that has high winds and a very dry climate. The price we pay is to accept the fact that there are things that must be done to prevent any further loss of property. The notices that... Continue reading
Share We ended up getting emails on Sunday but they told us nothing. Plus, without power, it was difficult to get emails. The emails told us nothing except that Xcel was working on power outages. on FacebookShare We ended up getting emails on Sunday but they told us nothing. Plus, without power, it was difficult to get emails. The emails told us nothing except that Xcel was working on power outages. on TwitterShare We ended up getting emails on Sunday but they told us nothing. Plus, without power, it was difficult to get emails. The emails told us nothing except that Xcel was working on power outages. on LinkedinEmail We ended up getting emails on Sunday but they told us nothing. Plus, without power, it was difficult to get emails. The emails told us nothing except that Xcel was working on power outages. link
We live in Niwot and our power went out around 3:15pm Saturday. We were given no notice so we didn't know if it was a planned outage or whether something had happened to cut power. We went on the Xcel power outage page numerous times and it told us nothing. We never received any notification of how long or what caused the power outage. Yes, we lost all our refrigerated food. But the worst part was never having any notification/confirmation of the power outage or what was going on. No one objects to Xcel cutting power in a high wind... Continue reading
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As a household affected by the preventative shutdown, our power was out for 27 hours. We received our first notice at 11:30 am while away from home before power was shutdown at 3:00.
The entire front range , west of I-25, was under the heavy wind warning yet power was shutoff for a select group of people. Twice as many people were impacted by downed power lines (mainly by trees) as those in the preventative shutdown zones. Those areas could have easily started a fire and were more dangerous because their power had not been shutdown. It is hard to... Continue reading
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We were without power, heat, and hot water for almost 48 hours. We lost hundreds of dollars’ worth of food, and it was very difficult to take care of my very ill adult daughter. After the first day, a neighbor said it would be out for another day. This sent me looking for ice to put in coolers to try to save some of our food. I went to 14 places looking for ice in Boulder, Louisville, and Superior without success.
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Xcel learned from the Marshall and Hawaii fires and took preemptive action to prevent massive fires and destruction from wind damage. I'm happy my house didn't burn down. A few hundred dollars of defrosted food and the inconvenience of wearing an extra sweater and sleeping under more blankets is a much smaller price to pay than losing my home and irreplaceable items. People will always find something about which to complain. They could count their blessings instead. Yes, maybe Xcel could've been a little faster with notifications, but they're learning and adapting. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound... Continue reading
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I live in the foothills, and am VERY appreciative that Xcel chose to shut down power.
I had plenty of notice.
I question whether it was necessary to cut power to telephones. Even though I have a backup power source, as a result of the outage I had no internet connection. Cell phones do not work here. So, without landline telephone, I had no communication capabilities at all.
A better job could have been done of explaining - ahead of time - the steps that would need to be taken to re-energized the lines, and therefore a better expectation set... Continue reading
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Two of my colleagues could have been seriously injured or died during Xcel's unannounced shutdown on the first weekend of April. One is a fellow advocate who has a spinal cord injury that gives her minimal motion in her hands. She requires electricity to move in her electric chair or keep essential medications cool. Another is the husband of a disability rights advocate, who has ASL and requires 24/7 ventilator access and constant heating and cooling in his home to regulate his body temperature, was also put at risk.
My friends were alive and okay because they were on Medicaid... Continue reading
