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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.
I believe that our power was preemptively shut down but I did not receive any notification so I'm not sure. We live close to Hwy 93 and 64th Ave. so I'm assuming that was the case.
We did receive a notification when the power was back on which was silly since we could tell the power was back on when our furnace, lights, fridge etc started working again.
I can understand Xcel not wanting to send out too many messages but with the forecast for high winds, it seems like it would have been nice to hear on the news... Continue reading
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Recorded phone call from Xcel was received at 2:15 p.m. on April 6th, stating, electricity would be preemptively shut off at 3:00 p.m. and restored the following afternoon (beginning at 12:00 noon on the 7th). I immediately powered down my computer and started filling the tub with water. Indeed, power was shut off at exactly 3:00. Given the communications from Xcel and supportive newsprint of the event, we declined from digging out the generator and racing to town to purchase gas for a 24-hr. outage. Sunday (April 7th) - social media is blowing-up; "Power may not be restored until April... Continue reading
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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... Continue reading
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The majority of people that lost power due to the shutoff would have likely lost power anyway during the wind storm. This was a bad weather event, don't forget that. It literally uprooted 150-200ft trees which then fell into structures and power lines. There were also several fires that started that day due to the wind. While I understand the wildfire risk is there, the power shutoff is also what happens when a power company is sued for something in Colorado that they didn't do. Read the facts people. It sure is convenient that Boulder County did the investigation and... Continue reading
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The mountain towns were treated poorly during the outtage. We were one of the last places where power was turned on, even though there were almost no downed poles, lines or trees anywhere near power lines. Here are some questions that need answering:
WHY keep our power off the longest when we had the least damage, and a high percentage of wells for our water? Power out meant we had no water to flush toilets, and though we prepared, they kept the power off so long we ran out of water to flush our toilets.
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First, such shutdowns show how ill-prepared Xcel to handle what is now becoming a relatively common occurrence. Xcel should be building and maintaining a supply network that can handle the environment in which it operates. While nobody wants them to start another wildfire, this sort of shutdown is foisting a great deal of pain, inconvenience, and cost onto the customers so Xcel can avoid another lawsuit.
Second, if you say that it will be down for well under 24 hours, and then it is down for much longer than 48 hours, that's a huge issue. Food spoils. Pipes freeze. I... Continue reading
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My mother resides at 1331 Hecla Drive which is part of the Balfour Senior centers in Louisville, CO. This includes The Lodges at Balfour, The Residences, Lavender Farm assisted living). They had power shut off at 3:00 PM Saturday with a copy of a brief notice from the staff that Xcel had announced there would be rolling outages. The power went off promptly at 3:00 PM and was not turned on until Monday at 10:00 AM. There was no "rolling" about it. The only info available (Xcel did not answer the phones) was on the website - a map of... Continue reading
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We were without power for 42 hours, twice as long as the high wind warning was in effect for. Disturbingly, we were not contacted by Xcel prior to our power being turned off. I have checked my account with Xcel and they do have my current mobile number and email address.
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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.
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Our residential power was out for 68 hours (4/6 at 10:30 pm to 4/9 at 6:30 pm) with almost no notification of status, despite multiple requests to Excel customer service. One transformer along our grid was replaced on 4/11; however, the whole gird system requires updating.
In addition, a resident in our neighborhood is reported to be drawing inordinately on the system due to a crypto currency operation. Should that draw be moderated or eliminated by some standard of use for a residential neighborhood?
Thank you, Karin Perry, 3010 Wright Street, Wheat Ridge CO 80215
