Boulder County residents tell PUC their power-outage stories

During Xcel Energy’s late December public safety power shutoff, a power line went down, had power restored and sparked a fire; an elderly woman who relies on oxygen was without power; and a Jamestown restaurant lost thousands of dollars and may face closure.

That’s all according to public testimonies during a virtual Colorado Public Utilities Commission hearing on Xcel’s handling of public safety power shutoffs on Wednesday.

No actions were taken during the hearing, which was open to the public on Zoom and live streamed elsewhere online. Rather, it allowed the public and local government officials to address the PUC directly on the impact of the public safety power shutoffs. The PUC is the state’s three-commissioner oversight body for utility companies such as Xcel.

The hearing stemmed from two late December public safety power shutoffs, which Xcel Energy instituted to avoid wildfire ignition during a period of high winds and unseasonably dry conditions. Tens of thousands of Boulder County residents were without power.

“Right now, where we’re at, is the pre-rule-making phase, which means that we are working to determine what the rules should focus on and to assess potential options.” Rebecca White, director of the PUC, explained at the start of the hearing.

White said that adopted rules may include: instituting required timelines for customer communications prior to a public safety power shutoff; timelines for communication and coordination with offices of emergency management; outage mapping requirements before and during outages; reporting requirements on decisions prior to a public safety power shutoff; and timelines and processes for proactive outages and service restoration.

PUC Commissioner Eric Blank said that the commissioners will meet with community leaders in the coming weeks on any rules.

In a statement provided to the Daily Camera, Xcel Energy spokesperson Michelle Aguayo said the company recognizes the impact the public safety power shutoff had on customers. She also noted that Xcel issued multiple messages through various forms of communication to provide updates on the shutoffs.

“Our primary responsibility is to protect public safety, and we believe our actions were necessary to mitigate the risk of wildfire and safeguard lives and property,” the statement said. “While we stand by our decision to prioritize safety, we acknowledge there are areas for improvement.”

‘Can’t continue to be our best choice’

Chris Meschuk, Boulder’s deputy city manager, echoed requests that the city made in a letter to Xcel. On Wednesday, he called on the PUC to ensure that Xcel continues to make progress to reduce the impact and frequency of public safety power shutoffs, improve communications during such events, and reimburse commercial and residential customers who sustained financial losses.

Meschuk made clear that the city was grateful that Xcel took steps to avoid wildfire ignition. But the risk that the community undertook, to Meschuk, was unacceptable.

“It should never really have to come to the point where shutting off power, causing massive disruption, threatening the lives and well-being of the most vulnerable in our community (shouldn’t be) the only choice for avoiding utility-ignited wildfire, but here we are,” said Meschuk, who later added, “This can’t be our long-term future. Turning off the electricity can’t continue to be our best choice.”

Most speakers on Wednesday complained about an apparent lack of communication from Xcel. Meschuk criticized Xcel for giving short notice on the scale of the shutoffs.

“I believe that they knew they were never going to shut off power to a half a million customers, but they left us scrambling until the last minute,” Meschuk said.

Michael Schmitt, fire chief of the Sunshine Fire Protection District, also addressed the PUC. He requested that Xcel ensure that no downed power lines have power restored without being checked first, and that it would be in the company’s interest to be in better communication with its own crews.

As laid out in a letter from his district and the Fourmile Fire Protection District, a downed power line had its power restored on two occasions during the shutoffs. That sparked two separate fires, one on Dec. 20 and the Wild Turkey Fire on Dec. 22, which prompted evacuation orders for approximately 662 residents, according to the letter. Schmitt said that firefighters reported the downed power line that led to the Dec. 20 fire, but an Xcel crew boss said that report never reached restoration crews.

Schmitt also requested the installation of tree wire, which is a type of wire designed to prevent outages when something such as a tree limb falls on power lines.

Jonathan Singer, senior director of policy programs with the Boulder Chamber, and Chris O’Brien, fire chief for Lefthand Fire Protection District and a member of the Boulder County Firefighters Association, also addressed the PUC.

Alice Guinther was among those residents.

Guinther recounted the story of an 82-year-old friend with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who lives in the Boulder Meadows mobile home community. Her friend doesn’t have a computer or smartphone, is on oxygen and is dealing with the effects of chemotherapy, Guinther said.

Guinther told the PUC that her friend said, “If (Xcel turns) off the power again with no notice, I will probably be dead in less than 24 hours.”

“I hope I will continue to have my friend in my life for a good, long time,” Guinther said. “But, she really doesn’t have backup.”

Rainbow Shultz, owner of the Jamestown Mercantile restaurant and a 25-year resident of the small Boulder County town, spoke about how the December public safety power shutoff and the April 2024 one impacted her business.

In the 2024 shutoff, Shultz said that she was without power for five days and the loss of refrigeration cost her the restaurant’s entire inventory. She said her claim for $8,000 was denied by Xcel because the shutoff was a safety precaution.

Shultz said she was determined to avoid such an impact in December, but received an email that she would not be impacted by the public safety power shutoffs.

She still lost power and “this time, lost closer to $12,000 plus the five days’ loss of business with no communication from Xcel as to when it would be restored,” Shultz said. “I know this might seem like a small number, but it’s definitely enough to potentially close my business and lose employment for my employees.”