Xcel Energy may cut power to 15,000 in Texas Panhandle amid wildfire risk Tuesday

AMARILLO, Texas (KVII) — High winds and dry conditions could lead to intentional power outages Tuesday morning in parts of the Texas Panhandle as Xcel Energy works to reduce the risk of wildfires.

Xcel Energy said it is planning a “Public Safety Power Shut Off” beginning around 9 a.m. Tuesday, which could affect about 15,000 people in 16 counties.

Wes Reeves, senior community engagement manager for wildfire mitigation in Texas and New Mexico, said these proactive shutoffs are generally outside city limits.

“When you talk about a proactive shut off or a PSPS, generally that is outside of town,” Reeves said. “So, if you look back, March of last year, we had several of these events and some confusion because we don’t normally de-energize lines in the city or in towns. These are really outside of town or on the edge of town. But you could still lose power, because the wind is going to be strong and there could be reliability issues for everyone.”

Power restoration after a PSPS or significant weather event can take several hours to several days, Reeves said, because crews must check for damage before re-energizing lines.

“Just because you’ve hit 5:00 doesn’t mean your lights are going to automatically come back on, because we’re going to go make sure there’s no damage on those lines that could take in some areas,” Reeves said. “If you’re more remote from town and you’re farther out, harder to get to, it could take a little longer. So we could be working throughout the night and into the next day to get some customers restored.”

Reeves urged residents to plan in case they lose electricity, particularly households with older adults, people who rely on medical devices, or families with small children.

“If my lights go out for an hour, what does that mean versus if my lights are going to be out all day or into tomorrow? That may mean something completely different, especially if you have someone in your home who’s elderly, someone who depends on medical devices to maintain their health, or if you have small children, new babies, things like that,” Reeves said.

Reeves said customers can sign up for outage alerts at xcelenergy.com.

Xcel Energy may cut power to 15,000 in Texas Panhandle amid wildfire risk Tuesday (KVII)