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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.
Share Xcel's Actions were Successful, If You Ignore They Did Not Have a Plan And Did Not Communicate on FacebookShare Xcel's Actions were Successful, If You Ignore They Did Not Have a Plan And Did Not Communicate on TwitterShare Xcel's Actions were Successful, If You Ignore They Did Not Have a Plan And Did Not Communicate on LinkedinEmail Xcel's Actions were Successful, If You Ignore They Did Not Have a Plan And Did Not Communicate link
“Ring!” “Ring!” I retrieved my iPhone 14, press the answer button, and raise it to my ear. Just as I get my salutation mumbled, a loud “Ding” indicating a received text message rattled my brain. “Hello! This is Xcel and we have a report of an outage in your area. . .” the automated female voice starts off. “End” is press, and I check the text. “Yep. It’s Xcel telling me we lost power,” I inform my wife. Not two minutes before did our lights flicker and lose their illumination, but the microwave and oven went dark. Over the remaining... Continue reading
Share The company took actions to protect itself while abandoning its customers on FacebookShare The company took actions to protect itself while abandoning its customers on TwitterShare The company took actions to protect itself while abandoning its customers on LinkedinEmail The company took actions to protect itself while abandoning its customers link
The power was proactively shut off in my neighborhood, which has buried power lines and very small trees that pose negligible risk. This is simply stupid and tells me the company is out of touch with conditions on the ground in the different areas where its customers live. The messaging was that the power MIGHT be shut off but was not followed up with a firm message, and the message did not arrive in time for me to prepare for the outage. Xcel has done nothing to fix the conditions on the ground in their high-risk areas and is attempting... Continue reading
Share Fire the Commission and Prosecute Xcel Execs on FacebookShare Fire the Commission and Prosecute Xcel Execs on TwitterShare Fire the Commission and Prosecute Xcel Execs on LinkedinEmail Fire the Commission and Prosecute Xcel Execs link
All these stories and public comment have fallen on deaf ears. The Commission continuously allows rate increases to Xcel who was under funded improvements to infrastructure. The result is a proactive shut off which hides poor design, punishes users, increases returns for Xcel shareholders, and the Commission holds hearings and collects surveys as if they represent the public but take no substantive action.
These proposed plans do nothing for the public. What a waste.
Xcel executives should have been prosecuted with criminal charges for putting people lives and businesses at risk and the Commission should be replaced until we get... Continue reading
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We have a one year old. Our home lost power and saw temperatures drop to dangerously cold levels for our child. We received no support from Xcel and no response to our complaints except that they couldn't provide an update.
We also lost at least $500 worth of food.
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The link does not connect. Zoom declares 'You've lost your way' which is zoom's version of a 404 error.
Please correct this immediately.
This is exceedingly frustrating.
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I am a 90 year old widow that lives by myself. When my power is off I do not have oxygen. I can not get out of my power operated recliner. I can not see at night to do the things that i need to do. WHY are we having so.many outages? What needs to.be done to stop them ?
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I'm a psychologist intern who had their water cut off 5/16/2024 for 24 hours. The bill is not due until 5/24/2024. Security water and sanitation only said they made a mistake. I was deprived of water for my family and my animals for 24 hours.
Share Bad Xcel Communications Again May 6-7 on FacebookShare Bad Xcel Communications Again May 6-7 on TwitterShare Bad Xcel Communications Again May 6-7 on LinkedinEmail Bad Xcel Communications Again May 6-7 link
On April 10th, we responded to the PUC concerning the perhaps well-intentioned but disastrous implementation by Xcel of a deliberate electricity outage that affected us and tens of thousands of others in the metro Denver area. We now wish to report horribly incompetent messaging by Xcel during the 5/06 – 5/07 Xcel outage in the foothills region of Boulder County.
We presume that the outage this time was not done purposefully by Xcel but was due to something resulting from another high-wind event, but Xcel won’t say. Possibly it was another intentional shut-down. But Xcel’s messaging was even... Continue reading
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We received no notice of the shut down. Nothing!! We had our grandchildren staying the night and were totally unprepared for the outage,and were left scrambling to compensate! If we had notice it wouldn't have been a problem!!
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I have lived in the mountains for over 60 years and the risk of wildfires is nothing new to me or the generation that preceeded me. My family has fought and survived many wildfires and we know how dangerous they can be. Xcel preemptively deenergized 55,000 customes and the storm caused 100,000 additional outages. This was a serious storm that Xcel took seriously. We had winds topping 96mph and many trees blown down or damaged by the wind. Losing power for us means not only no electricity but also no water or internet. We don't have cellular signal so our... Continue reading
