More than 30,000 homes and businesses lost power on Saturday as high winds blew across Colorado, according to several of the state’s energy utilities.
Roughly 18,000 of those outages were Xcel Energy customers in Colorado’s foothills, who lost power when the utility’s preemptive safety shutoffs started at 2 p.m. Saturday, officials confirmed.
“Power has been temporarily shut off in this area to protect customers and the community from wildfires,” alerts on the utility’s outage map read. “Outages may last longer than usual. Find the latest information at xcelenergy.com/wildfire.”
The “public safety power shutoff” affected 14,408 Xcel customers in Boulder County and 3,403 customers in Jefferson County, according to a news release from Xcel Energy. The utility issued the preemptive shutoffs to “protect public safety and prevent wildfires.”
As of 5:20 p.m. Saturday, an additional 12,376 Xcel customers across the state were also without power because of unplanned outages, according to the utility’s outage map. Most of those outages were in Boulder County, but Jefferson, Larimer and Clear Creek counties also were affected.
Up to 70 mph winds were forecast Saturday for Colorado’s foothills, including in Boulder and Jefferson counties, according to the National Weather Service. A red flag warning for “critical fire conditions” will be in effect for the area — as well as for much of Colorado’s Front Range and Eastern Plains — until 9 p.m. Saturday.
Colorado weather: Fire danger continues as high winds gust across dry state
“Restoring outages from a significant weather event or PSPS may take several hours to several days,” Xcel officials stated. “This is because crews must inspect power lines and repair damage before they can be safely re-energized.”
A resource center with access to water, snacks and charging will be available at the North Boulder Recreation Center, 3170 Broadway, Xcel officials said.
Core Electric Cooperative, another energy utility in Colorado, said Saturday that no preemptive outages were planned for its customers. However, officials activated “alternate relay settings” because of the high winds, according to the utility. The settings make power lines more sensitive and “react instantaneously” if a fault, such as a tree on the line, is detected, according to Core Electric Cooperative. Crews must then patrol the area to find and fix the cause before they can re-energize the line.
“These protocols help mitigate the risk of ignition, but can cause longer outages,” utility officials said.
As of 5:20 p.m. Saturday, nearly 2,000 Core customers were without power, according to the utility’s outage map.
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