GOLDEN, Colo. — As powerful winds swept across the Front Range on Thursday, Xcel Energy warned it may shut off power in parts of Boulder and Jefferson counties this weekend to reduce wildfire risk.
"We've been monitoring this weather event that came in here along the Front Range here for the last couple of days," said Andrew Holder, the director of community relations and government affairs for Xcel Energy.
On Thursday, Xcel activated enhanced powerline safety settings for five counties across Colorado. Later that evening, the power company announced it is evaluating whether a public safety power shutoff will be necessary for Boulder and Jefferson counties on Saturday.
"PSPS is a tool that we do not take lightly," Holder told Denver7's Veronica Acosta. "It's a tool of last resort, and we really want to ensure that we have a very strong, accurate forecasted weather model before we implement those tools. There's a certain amount of criteria that we look at."
"We're looking at the top 3% of wind events that we see here in Colorado," Holder added. "We also are looking at the relative humidity, and additionally, we're looking at what the fuel looks like on the ground."
Also on Thursday, Denver7 spoke with Jefferson County Emergency Manager Nathan Whittington.
"We're already starting to see the winds outside," he said. "Flags are completely straight out."
"Any Spark, any open burning, anything like that, could lead to potentially devastating wildfire," Whittington told Denver7. "Jefferson County is still under a stage one fire restriction, so we are monitoring it and keeping an eye on it. Really, today is just a proactive measure of being safe, being vigilant, and just ultimately being prepared."
Whittington said his office activated its emergency management team on Wednesday evening.
"In the event we do have a large wildfire or a significant event, we may activate the entire room where we're bringing in law, fire, emergency medical services, the utility companies, our communications folks, all of those types of different assets, so that we're looking at a full county coordination response to this type of event on a day like today, I guess, run us through As soon as you wake up, what you're working towards, what you're monitoring, that kind of thing," he said. "We're monitoring road conditions. We're monitoring the wind."
In the meantime, Xcel Energy recommended that customers prepare for potential shutoffs on Saturday.
