GOLDEN, Colo. — City leaders in Golden are demanding accountability from Xcel Energy following planned power outages across the Front Range last month, saying the execution revealed serious infrastructure shortcomings.
In a January 3 letter to Xcel Energy Colorado and the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, the City of Golden and city councilmembers outlined the impacts the shutoffs had on businesses, restaurants and residents, including lost wages, spoiled food and additional heating costs.
Golden city leaders criticized Xcel's communication during the shutoffs, calling the company's timelines for outages and restoration "vague, frequently shifting, or entirely absent." In a December 17 news release, Xcel said restoring outages after high winds and planned shutoffs was "expected to take several hours to several days." Xcel said crews could not begin power restoration until all power lines in the area were visibly inspected and repaired.
The letter from the City of Golden demands several changes, including improved communication with cities during shutoffs, a compensation program for residents and businesses affected by planned outages, and hardened Xcel infrastructure. City leaders said Xcel needs to invest in more resilient infrastructure to reduce or eliminate reliance on public safety power shutoffs as a wildifre prevention strategy.
Brandon Bortles, owner of Nosu Ramen in downtown Golden, said his restaurant is still trying to make up lost profit after closing for four days during the December planned outage. He said his business lost about $25,000 in revenue and had to throw away up to $7,000 worth of food and drinks because of the lack of power.
"I feel like a pawn in a game of liability," Bortles said. "The whole front range needs infrastructure investment."
Xcel Energy said it implements Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) during extreme winds and high fire danger to protect communities. During the PSPS in December, Xcel Energy Colorado President Robert Kenney said nearly 90,000 customers lost power at the height of Friday's wind event. He said some of the outages were related to the proactive de-energization while some were related to storm damage from the winds.
During a press conference on December 20, Kenney said Xcel began communicating with customers, counties and other stakeholders about the planned outage as early as four days before it happened.
"We know that there's always room for improvement, and we will do an after action review to assess where we have opportunities to improve, because we never want to rest on our laurels and we never want to be satisfied," Kenney said during the December 20 press conference.
Denver7 reached out to Xcel and the Colorado Public Utilities Commission for a response to the City of Golden's demands. We are waiting to hear back and will update this article with their responses.
In an interview on December 20, the owner of Woody's Pizza in downtown Golden said he understands the need for safety measures during dangerous weather conditions, but said they should not come at the expense of small businesses.
"There's kind of a general sense of frustration," owner Jon Bortles said. "They've (Xcel Energy) got millions and millions of dollars. They need to be burying these power lines so that the wind doesn't cause these these outages."
In mid-December, the Front Range saw hurricane-force winds, with gusts reaching 112 mph in Boulder County on Friday, December 19. The storm caused damage, outages, fires and travel disruptions, but no injuries were reported.
