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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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  • Share No Power for days with freezing temps, and snow on the ground on Facebook Share No Power for days with freezing temps, and snow on the ground on Twitter Share No Power for days with freezing temps, and snow on the ground on Linkedin Email No Power for days with freezing temps, and snow on the ground link

    No Power for days with freezing temps, and snow on the ground

    by SLvM, 8 months ago
    First off, I want to make it clear that I am all about Safety first, and certainly when it comes to natural disasters and or potentially man made ones. The events of 4/6-4/7 which prompted Xcel Energy to preventatively turn off power to several thousand households due to excessively high winds makes sense. What, did not make sense to me, as a resident of Nederland, CO was, why up here? We recently had a 4 foot snow storm, followed by several smaller snow storms, temperatures have been dropping below freezing, and, there is still in some areas over a foot... Continue reading
  • Share Notification needs improvement on Facebook Share Notification needs improvement on Twitter Share Notification needs improvement on Linkedin Email Notification needs improvement link

    Notification needs improvement

    by sangrevista, 8 months ago
    We received timely notification of the preemptive power shutdown, however neighbors on our road did not. The online outage map, which in the past provided status of repair efforts, was never updated during the 46 hour shutdown. This has proved useful during past outages, with at least notification that crews were working in the area. This time, status was "assessing damage" the entire time. The only clue that we had that power might be restored was seeing a Sturgeon Electric truck in the area. In the past, we were also notified by text of the status of repairs. This did... Continue reading
  • Share 68 years of experience with electrical outages on Facebook Share 68 years of experience with electrical outages on Twitter Share 68 years of experience with electrical outages on Linkedin Email 68 years of experience with electrical outages link

    68 years of experience with electrical outages

    by jp11248, 8 months ago
    I have lived in Colorado all my life, mostly in Arvada since the early sixties. I can never remember a time when we had a power outage that lasted more than a couple hours to 5-7 hours. The frustration with this outage was we didn't know if we were in the planned outage area, or the change xcel did on the lines where as I understand, if there is stress on a line such as a tree limb touching it, or the wind causing it to have too much stress, the power would be shut off then trucks would have... Continue reading
  • Share Supportive of Precautionary Shutdown on Facebook Share Supportive of Precautionary Shutdown on Twitter Share Supportive of Precautionary Shutdown on Linkedin Email Supportive of Precautionary Shutdown link

    Supportive of Precautionary Shutdown

    by Trina Peterson, 8 months ago
    We live surrounded by Arapahoe Roosevelt National Forest near Highway 72 and between Nederland and Ward. We have lived there for 28 years and been Xcel customers for that period of time. We have 42 acres and annually tend to those acres with forestry techniques meant to a) reduce risk for catastrophic fire; b) promote healthy, bio-diverse flora (mix of spruce, fir, pine, aspen, etc.); c) generate forestry products. We are also very conscious of thinning trees around and near the multiple structures on our property in order to create Fire Wise zones.


    Even with all the work we have... Continue reading

  • Share Poor communication from Xcel on Facebook Share Poor communication from Xcel on Twitter Share Poor communication from Xcel on Linkedin Email Poor communication from Xcel link

    Poor communication from Xcel

    by gbmp, 8 months ago

    Although we applaud Xcel for taking preventative measures to prevent downed power lines from sparking wildfires during the recent windstorm, the way in which Xcel handled the shutdown was simply abysmal.

    We received a vaguely worded email from Xcel five hours prior to the shutdown. The email stated that "Communities that may be affected by proactive de-energization of lines include areas primarily in Boulder County". At that point in time, Xcel must surely have known which areas would be affected. Xcel should have been able to provide its customers with a detailed map, with boundaries clearly delineated, of the... Continue reading

  • Share Power out 21 hours on Facebook Share Power out 21 hours on Twitter Share Power out 21 hours on Linkedin Email Power out 21 hours link

    Power out 21 hours

    by Connie1, 8 months ago
    My power went out at 3:58pm on April 7th. I immediately called Excel to report. I received a text from Xcel at 4:10pm stating "an outing may be impacting your location."


    Duh..

    My power wasn't restored until 1:00pm on April 7th.

    I was also very sick that weekend, and I'm still sick. đŸ˜·đŸ˜Ș

  • Share Thank you on Facebook Share Thank you on Twitter Share Thank you on Linkedin Email Thank you link

    Thank you

    by Jantineke , 8 months ago

    Thank you for taking precautionary measure. The winds were very very high where I live. I gladly live without electricity for a few days than have to live the consequences of a fire!!!!!!!! Plus we are old/retired /no kids so it was fun to camp at home. Having lived in different places we have an emergency supplies, because in the north it is blizzards and south flooding. As for loss of food just keep refrigerator and freezer closed. Eat canned food Etc. Food is easier to replace than your special “Stuff”.

    It is easy to complain. So I want to... Continue reading

  • Share I didn’t lose my house again on Facebook Share I didn’t lose my house again on Twitter Share I didn’t lose my house again on Linkedin Email I didn’t lose my house again link

    I didn’t lose my house again

    by Sarahkat , 8 months ago

    Having lost my home in the Marshall fires and only just now back into my rebuild, I am grateful for the decision to preemptively cut power. I do feel communication and efficiency of restoration are areas to improve upon in the future, as well as more guidance for those in the community needing assistance with powering medical devices, food, or other extenuating circumstances.

  • Share live alone, age 60 on Facebook Share live alone, age 60 on Twitter Share live alone, age 60 on Linkedin Email live alone, age 60 link

    live alone, age 60

    by ColoArtMom, 8 months ago
    The worst part about this shut down was not knowing if I could receive notification if there had been a fire. I was having trouble even sending texts at one point and had one bar of connection most of the time. This meant I couldn't check news sites or google about fire conditions. With the conditions similar to the Marshall Fire and without knowing how much the fire notification system had improved, it seemed crazy to cut off communication between people just when we needed the most connection to stay informed. I sat in the dark wondering if I was... Continue reading
  • Share Thank You to Xcel for Possibly Saving our Homes by Modeling California's "Public Safety Power Shutoffs" on Facebook Share Thank You to Xcel for Possibly Saving our Homes by Modeling California's "Public Safety Power Shutoffs" on Twitter Share Thank You to Xcel for Possibly Saving our Homes by Modeling California's "Public Safety Power Shutoffs" on Linkedin Email Thank You to Xcel for Possibly Saving our Homes by Modeling California's "Public Safety Power Shutoffs" link

    Thank You to Xcel for Possibly Saving our Homes by Modeling California's "Public Safety Power Shutoffs"

    by dawnsandberg, 8 months ago

    Dawn B.

    Boulder CO 80301

    Re: Wind Storms and Xcel Power Outage

    • A neighbor mentioned that in California, they have regular "public safety power shutoffs" after their terrible fires and loss of life and property.
    • Xcel should be granted 100% immunity from all personal and property claims for acting proactively to help and protect us.
    • My husband is from Scandinavia where most all power cables are buried like that we have implemented in newer developments like Superior.
    • We also can ask homeowners to be much better prepared now for disasters and power outages and we can have better family fire/flood... Continue reading
Page last updated: 27 Aug 2024, 04:09 PM