DENVER — Residents in parts of Fort Collins and certain areas of Weld County may be without power starting Friday morning due to the potential for extreme fire weather in the region over the next several days, Xcel Energy officials announced Wednesday.
“Xcel Energy is closely monitoring and preparing for a potential extreme fire weather event, including strong wind, low humidity and extremely dry ground conditions, forecast to start Friday, January 16 in certain limited areas within Larimer and Weld counties,” an Xcel Energy spokesperson said in a news release.
Officials from the utility company said areas that could be potentially affected by the company’s public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) include parts of Fort Collins and “nearby communities to the north and west.”
The shutoffs could impact about 9,000 customers in Larimer and Weld counties, an Xcel Energy spokesperson said later Wednesday. Xcel did not provide more specific locations for these planned outages.
“Xcel Energy will continue to evaluate conditions and the scope of our wildfire mitigation actions, including public safety power shutoffs, and will update the community and customers later today,” the spokesperson said.
We are preparing for a potential extreme fire weather event in Colorado and are evaluating conducting a targeted Public Safety Power Shutoff for a limited number of customers in Larimer and Weld counties, including in parts of Fort Collins and nearby communities to the north and… pic.twitter.com/LHr7tpTBlZ
— Xcel Energy Colorado (@XcelEnergyCO) January 14, 2026
If a planned power outage does occur, Xcel Energy officials said power won't be back up until after high winds and elevated fire risks have ended.
"It may take several hours to several days for customers’ power to be restored because a crew must patrol the entire power line to ensure it’s safe to turn service back on before it can be re-energized," an Xcel spokesperson said.
The National Weather Service in Boulder has already issued a fire weather watch along the northern I-25 corridor and adjacent plains as humidity levels are expected to drop into the mid-teens with gusts between 25-45 mph on Thursday.
Increasing winds expected Friday are also a concern for forecasters, which is why they have also issued a high wind watch that will go into effect starting late Thursday night through Friday afternoon for the northeastern plains, where wind between 35-45 mph and gusts up to 65 mph are forecast.
“While winds won't be at High Wind Criteria outside of the northeast plains, they will still be gusty enough to have elevated to critical fire weather concerns across the majority of the lower elevations, as RH values are forecast to drop into the mid-teens through the afternoon,” forecasters said Thursday.
Xcel Energy officials said weather forecasts, along with other data sources, “help us determine the best course of action to protect public safety.”
“High winds, low relative humidity and dry ground fuel conditions are key factors in risk models,” officials said in their release, citing “persistent dry weather and historically snowpack” as the primary driver of those risk factors.
"We will work to limit the number of those impacted and are preparing to ensure a quick restoration of power," said president of Xcel Energy Colorado Robert Kenney. "We recognize that any amount of time without power is a hardship. As always, our crews will work as safely and quickly as they can to restore power in the event of a PSPS or other weather-related outages.”
Because of the elevated fire risk Friday, Xcel Energy officials said they expect to activate Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings, or EPSS.
EPSS are extra protections which allow power lines to remain active until an issue is detected such as “a tree branch or other object touching” a line, according to Xcel Energy officials.
Once an issue is detected, power to the line is shut off and those lines remain down “until our crews can visually inspect power lines to make sure it is safe to turn them back on.”
“This may mean that if an outage occurs, it could last longer,” officials said.
How people can prepare ahead of a potential power shutoff
The first thing people should do is stay up-to-date by going to Xcel’s website ahead of Friday’s high fire danger event. Xcel customers should also make sure their account information and communications preferences are up to date in their Xcel accounts, and should check the status of an outage by going to Xcel’s statewide Outage Map, which can notify people when outages may be resolved. Xcel Energy also provided a list of recommended items for a home emergency kit:
- Battery-powered radio
- Flashlights
- Batteries
- Backup phone chargers
- Phone that does not require electricity
- Non-electric alarm clock
- Bottled water and non-perishable food
- Manual can opener
- First-Aid kit
- Extension cords
Xcel Energy officials said customers with medical equipment that requires electricity should take steps to prepare backup power should outages occur, adding they would be Colorado residents with qualifying medical conditions will be contacted by the utility company about this expected shutoff.
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