BOULDER, Colo. — Xcel Energy is telling its customers to prepare for possibility of a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) amid critical fire weather forecasted for the Front Range and most of eastern Colorado next week.
In Boulder, the December shutoffs were disruptive for residents and costly for businesses.
It's prompted many to invest in their own backup power sources.
"You know, it's a trend," said Boulder resident Bart Windrum, referring to investments his neighbors have made to avoid having a house without power.
This weekend, Windrum is making sure his generator and transfer switch are ready to go. In case of an outage, the transfer switch allows him to power parts of his home.
"It's like the burden is being shifted to us, right?" Windrum said.
In an email Saturday morning, Xcel Energy told customers to "take steps to prepare for potential wildfires and power outages now."
However, Xcel has yet to confirm with Denver7 whether it plans to implement any safety shutoffs in the coming days.
Jonathan Singer with Boulder's Chamber of Commerce believes communication from the utility company is paramount, especially given the financial impact on local businesses.
"We know the weather may not always be predictable, but the communication lines should be," Singer said.
Singer told Denver7 Saturday that any shutoffs need to be as localized as possible and customers need advance notice.
After December's shutoffs cost some businesses an average of $25,000 each in losses, he said business owners are also taking proactive measures.
"We have businesses that are buying additional refrigeration equipment," Singer said.
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Xcel tells customers to prepare for shutoffs as dangerous fire conditions loom
Meanwhile, Xcel customers like Windrum say the threat of another planned power shutoff means something needs to change.
"Spend more money, faster, smarter and make it so that I don't have to have all this hassle to create my own electricity during these emergencies," Windrum said when asked for his message to Xcel Energy representatives.
