DENVER — Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) leaders are opening themselves up for feedback Wednesday on Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) as they look to draft new rules for future planned outages.
The outages are part of a preventive measure to reduce wildfire risk, but in last month and earlier this month, left thousands in the dark.
“While these conditions call for it because they were extremely high winds, low humidity, dry conditions creating high fire conditions, there's also real world impacts that happen to regular people, and so we want to hear what those impacts are, and this input will help the Commission as they look at drafting new rules and they begin the rule making process,” PUC Communications Director Megan Castle said.
She added that when Xcel’s wildfire mitigation plan was approved in 2025, part of the plan included Xcel revising the rules around the PSPS.
“There were several mitigations that were approved during that time, but the rule making around the PSPS was one of them, and this hearing is set up to provide information and feedback part of that rule making process,” Castle said.
PUC is in the “pre-rule making process” for the PSPS and Castle said are currently gathering as much information as possible about the community’s experience.
“That rule making process is going to be going on through most of this year, and we can expect to have rules by it several months down the road,” Castle said.
The new rules will be formed based on the feedback they receive, go into effect by the of this year for all utility companies regulated by the commission, which includes Xcel and Black Hills.
Though this is the first virtual public comment hearing for the planned power shutoffs, Castle says people have been able to leave comments about their experience through surveys on the DORA website. She says after the December power outages, they received thousands of responses.
The virtual feedback hearing on the outages takes place Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m. Those interested in attending can register here.
Denver7 covered the impact of the planned outages extensively, sharing how homeowners and business owners expressed frustration. Some people were left in the dark for days.
The outages in December cost businesses thousands of dollars.
A study from the Boulder Chamber of Commerce revealed that during the December shutoffs, businesses in Boulder reported an average of $25,000 in losses.
Nine businesses reported losses of over $100,000.
Cities have also relayed their concerns to Xcel after the planned power outages. Both the City of Boulder and the City of Golden sending letters to Xcel.
The City of Boulder will hold a virtual information session Thursday evening about the Xcel shutoffs. City staff will listen to community concerns and outline next steps to prepare for the future.
