Xcel Energy-Colorado needs to communicate much better, provide more notice and work with local governments and agencies the next time it shuts off power during high winds to reduce the outbreak of wildfires, members of the public told state regulators Wednesday.
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission held a two-hour hearing as the first step in an investigation into Xcel’s decision to cut power to about 55,000 customers along the northern Front Range as a precaution April 6-7. More than another 100,000 customers lost power during the strong winds that reached gusts of up to 95 mph.
People and businesses reported losing hundreds of thousands of dollars of food when the electricity went out. Critical public facilities were affected and people dependent on oxygen and medical devices that needed power were left vulnerable, people told the PUC.
Many of the speakers acknowledged the reason Xcel Energy took the preemptive step was to minimize the risk of wildfires caused by any power lines that might go down during the storm. Investigators said a loose power line belonging to Xcel ignited one of two blazes that merged into the Marshall wildfire Dec. 30, 2021, in Louisville, Superior and parts of unincorporated Boulder County.
The fire killed two people, destroyed 1,084 homes and businesses and did more than $2 billion in total property damage. Xcel Energy, which disputes that its equipment sparked a fire, faces nearly 300 lawsuits by homeowners, local governments and retail giant Target for the losses.
“Boulder County is still recovering from the devastation from the Marshall fire. We want to thank Xcel and welcome efforts to protect our community,” said Boulder County Commissioner Ashley Stolzmann.
But two or three days without power can cause serious financial hardship and impacts to public health and the well-being of communities, Stolzmann added.
Utilities in other states, including California and Oregon, have increasingly shut off electricity as a precaution when conditions are ripe for wildfires. This is the first time Xcel has done so in Colorado.
Cutting power in high-risk situations is an appropriate tool, said Boulder Mayor Aaron Brockett. However, Xcel Energy failed to take steps that would “have resulted in better and more manageable outcomes for the more seriously impacted communities,” he said.
Brockett said the city of Boulder, where more than 35,000 people were without electricity, had just a few hours to prepare after getting notice of planned power outages. He said the utility has been considering the use of preemptive power shutoffs for a while and questioned why Xcel didn’t coordinate with local governments ahead of time.
“Certainly outages reduce certain risks, however shutting off power at the magnitude we experienced also represents some material risk to public safety in and of itself,” Brockett said.
A survey answered by 96 Boulder businesses found that the outages caused an estimated $1.3 million in lost revenue, $240,000 in unpaid wages and $125,000 in inventory and product losses, said Bettina Swigger, CEO of the Downtown Boulder Partnership.
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No electricity over the weekend took a toll at Agilent Technologies’ plant in Boulder, said Lorri Brovsky, the director of facilities. The company, which manufactures pharmaceutical ingredients, is aware of Xcel’s safety concerns, she said.
“However, providing a two-and-a-half-hour notice via a telephone voice message on an automated line on a Saturday that power was being shut down for over 24 hours was extremely disruptive to our manufacturing process and will result in the product loss of several million dollars,” Brovsky said.
The PUC said it has received roughly 700 comments from the public so far about Xcel cutting power to areas that were deemed as high risk for wildfires. The agency is collecting comments on the page https://engagedora.org/share-your-feedback-with-the-puc.
The commission plans to hold a question-and-answer session with Xcel Energy and others and might consider new rules for preemptive power shutdowns. Gov. Jared Polis and legislators called for the review of the company’s actions.
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