Temperatures posted another record low Sunday, creating problems for homeowners and firefighters as pipes froze and water lines broke.
But the electricity stayed on for most people, an improvement over Saturday, when rolling blackouts left up to 300,000 Xcel Energy customers in metro Denver without power.
“I’m sure the PUC will ask for information about what happened,” said Barbara Fernandez, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. “Things like this can happen. It was extremely cold.”
She said there are no plans for a formal investigation.
Fernandez said she could not recall a time in recent memory when such cold conditions prompted Xcel to initiate what she called “controlled outages.”
She said such outages typically occur in the summer, when there is high demand on the electric grid because of heavy use of air conditioners.
The trouble began after Denver hit a record temperature of minus 13 degrees on Saturday. Sunday’s temperatures dipped to minus 4 degrees, passing the old record of 3 degrees above set in 1889.
Xcel cited a confluence of factors for Saturday’s outages, including extreme demand from customers because of the record cold temperatures. The company said it also had trouble getting natural gas for use in some of its power plants because of equipment problems among some suppliers.
Tom Henley, an Xcel spokesman, said the rolling blackouts were implemented in 30-minute increments to 100,000 customers at a time. The rolling blackouts were ended by noon Saturday. “Everything has been fine today,” he said Sunday.
But that wasn’t the case at many fire stations.
“It seems like common sense, but people do all kinds of silly things,” explained Aurora fire Capt. Mike Ackman.
Authorities say many people have no idea where to shut off the main water lines in their homes. They also don’t think about cleaning snow off the gas meters outside to keep pipes from freezing.
Some residents have used a blow torch or a flame to warm up the pipes, causing a fire. And while using a hair dryer to heat up pipes is better, turning the dryer on while standing in a foot of water can cause electrocution.
A fire sprinkler pipe burst at the Century 16 Movie Theaters in Aurora on Saturday, dropping a 30 square-foot section of ceiling. No one was injured and the theater remained open for business. That was just one of 53 water-related calls Aurora fire crews had over the weekend, Ackman said.
Denver also had its share of water troubles. Firefighters spent Sunday answering more than 60 calls of busted water pipes and they anticipate more today as the temperatures go up, said Lt. Phil Champagne.
Weather forecasters say the low temperatures are going to last until mid-week.
Today’s highs in the Denver metro area are expected to be in the 30s, with lows in the teens, said National Weather Service forecaster Bob Koopmeiners. By Wednesday, the temperatures will rise to the lower 40s with lows in the 20s at night.
Staff writer Felisa Cardona can be reached at 303-820-1219 or at fcardona@denverpost.com.
