On Saturday morning, Xcel Energy decided to de-energize some of its powerlines cutting power to over 600 miles of lines and over 55,000 customers. The decision was made to protect the public’s safety as warnings of extreme winds were forecasted for the area. Several businesses in the service area were impacted and were able to share their feedback with the power company.
Hosea Rosenburg, owner of Black Belly in Boulder, said the outage nearly cost him his business. He stores roughly $50,000 to $60,000 worth of food in his refrigerators and freezers as his restaurant prepares for a busy weekend service. Xcel Energy decided to cut the power to over 600 miles of power lines beginning Saturday. The power closure was expected to end at noon on Sunday, with the caveat that Xcel’s team had to inspect each power line before the power could be restored.
Rosenberg said he was given little if any notice before the power to their restaurants was shut off. They struggled to find places to store their food before it had to be tossed out due to food safety standards.
While Rosenberg found a refrigerated truck to save his stock of food, he said he now faces the problem that all the food he would have served over the weekend needs to be served in the next few days or it will no longer be fresh.
This plight was echoed by several restaurant owners on Monday during a press conference held by the Boulder Chamber of Commerce. Robert Kenney, Colorado division president for Xcel Energy spoke on behalf of the power company. He began by apologizing for and recognizing the hardship the outage caused many in the area.
Kenney said the decision to shut off power to over 55,000 customers was a matter of public safety that was made at the last minute with a lot of analysis that went into it before the final decision was made.
Kenney said the National Weather Service and Xcel’s internal meteorological staff predicted that the windstorm would produce winds that ranged in the top 3% of wind speeds. This coupled with the dry vegetation in the area convinced the company to de-energize powerlines to prevent the possibility of a wildfire in the area. Wind gusts from the weekend's storm were recorded at 97 mph. Along Hwy 36 several power line poles were snapped due to the intense winds.
This is not the first time Xcel has turned off its power in areas because of the wind, Kenney said. A recent event in Texas forced a similar situation but this was the first time it has happened in Colorado. Kenney said there is a lot to learn from these two situations such as how the company and improve its communication with residential and commercial customers before, during and after the outages take place.
Businesses were not the only ones affected by the outage. Traffic lights throughout the service area were without power. The city of Boulder used generators to power traffic lights in intersections that posed the most concern to drivers, said Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde, city of Boulder’s city manager.
Kenney said that Xcel expects 90% of its service to be restored by the end of Monday, however, the process is slow. He said the company requires that members of its 500-manned crew visually survey all 600 miles of power lines to ensure they are safe to handle the return of power.
Some asked the question if the company plans to transition the power lines below ground. Kenney said the idea is being evaluated in some areas, however, there are areas where it is cost-prohibitive to bury the lines. He also said Xcel is reviewing other infrastructure upgrades that could prevent such an outage in the future.
