The Denver Post reports that Xcel Energy has revised its potential public safety power shutoffs for the Front Range, trimming the number of customers who might lose electricity on a windy day from an initial 530,000 down to 52,000. The update comes as the utility cites fire risk tied to forecast gusts and dry conditions across the foothills and plains. The article is by Katie Langford and Lauren Penington.
According to the Post, Xcel now expects any precautionary shutoffs to begin around 10 a.m. Wednesday, with the greatest impacts likely in foothills counties such as Jefferson, Boulder, Clear Creek, Larimer, and Weld. The company also plans to use “enhanced powerline safety settings,” which keep lines energized but more sensitive to faults, and warns restoration may take hours or days because crews must patrol lines before re-energizing. Forecasts call for widespread gusts of 60 to 75 mph, with pockets that could hit 90 in wind-prone areas.
The Bullet Point Brief
- From 530,000 to 52,000. Xcel slashes its projected outage impact but still tells tens of thousands to prep for the lights to go out. Progress that still feels like a shrug.
- Start around 10 a.m. Wednesday. Foothills bear the brunt. Jefferson, Boulder, Clear Creek, Larimer, and Weld are on the watch list. Charge the phone, find the flashlights.
- Winds to 60–75 mph. Some spots could see stronger gusts. Fire weather risk is the official rationale, and the wind gets to be the scapegoat.
- “Enhanced safety settings.” Lines stay on but trip faster if they sense trouble. Translation: more blips and longer patrols before power returns.
- Restoration can take days. Crews must inspect lines before re-energizing. That is a long time to wait for the product you pay for every month.
My Bottom Line
Who saw this coming? Everyone. The very state that lectures you to electrify everything now has its primary power provider warning you to expect shutoffs because the wind might blow. Have you had enough of Democrat control yet? This is what happens when politics outruns physics, and when risk management is driven as much by trial lawyers as by engineers.
If the plan is to mandate electric heat, electric stoves, and electric cars, the matching plan must be a fortified grid that rides through weather. Instead, we get performative outages and press releases. Grandma does not need a lecture about climate resilience. She needs her electric heater to stay on when the forecast gets spicy.
Colorado should harden the system, not our patience. Bury the highest-risk spans where it pencils. Accelerate vegetation management. Add sectionalizing and sensors so faults do not black out entire ZIP codes. Build and maintain generation that can deliver when it is hot, cold, dry, or windy. Public safety power shutoffs should be a rare last resort, not a seasonal ritual.
Electrify everything was the slogan. Fortify everything should be the policy. Until state leaders admit that reliability is the first duty, families and small businesses will keep paying for other people’s virtue signaling with spoiled groceries and cold houses. That is not stewardship. That is negligence dressed up as progress.
Source: The Denver Post
