A barrage of complaints about Xcel Energy’s preemptive power shutoffs on windy days has led state regulators to craft guidelines around how Colorado’s largest power company uses them in an effort to prevent wildfires.
The on Wednesday began the process of creating rules for what Xcel calls “public safety power shutoffs,” saying the state needs improved coordination between the utility and its customers and public safety agencies.
Xcel needs to improve its communication about the timing of power shutoffs, their scope and how the company plans to restore electricity to those affected, commissioners said.
The would not require Xcel to provide financial compensation to residents who lose food or businesses that lose products and customers during power shutoffs. It is unclear whether the proposed rules would include penalties if Xcel fails to meet expectations with its notifications and communication during power shutoffs.
“The point of this is to set the expectations so that the utilities know what they’re supposed to be planning for and then for us to do the reporting and follow-up to ensure those utilities are meeting those notification and other requirements as part of this process,” said Erin O’Neill, a Public Utilities Commission deputy director. “The way we’ve structured it now is that we are defining the expectation and trying to be as clear as we possibly can about how the utilities are to proceed and what the expectations are.”
The PUC listened to a presentation about the proposed rules Wednesday, but those are subject to change as the commission wades into the formal process. Rulemaking takes months as the commission holds public hearings and accepts public comments before convening meetings to hammer out the final version. The power-shutoff rule would not be finalized until 2027.
A public hearing is scheduled for Nov. 23.
Sydney Isenberg, an Xcel spokeswoman, said the company will review its next steps once it receives the PUC’s written order.
“In the meantime, we will continue to work with the PUC and the community on our public safety power shutoff processes,” she said in an email.
Xcel adopted after the 2021 Marshall fire as a way to prevent or minimize the damage its power lines can cause when they are blown down in strong winds.
The Marshall fire, which burned more than 1,000 homes in Boulder County and killed two people, was caused by an Xcel power line that snapped during hurricane-force winds and sent sparks onto dry vegetation, according to the findings of a lengthy investigation. That blaze merged with another wildfire that had started after the wind blew topsoil off of a fire pit on the property of a religious cult down the road from where Xcel’s line broke.
Xcel disputes that its equipment caused the Marshall fire. The company agreed to pay $640 million to settle a lawsuit brought by more than 4,000 people and businesses over the wildfire’s ignition.
Xcel uses the power shutoffs when its team predicts that other wildfire mitigation methods will not be enough.
“Proactively shutting off power is a tool used solely to protect public safety, and one we do not use lightly,” Isenberg said. “We consider weather, wind speeds, relative humidity, fuel moisture and temperature as well as critical customers and infrastructure before deciding to implement a (public safety power shutoff).”
Turning off electricity ahead of severe wind and snowstorms is a strategy that is becoming more common as the threat of wildfires increases amid record heat and drought. Power companies in California and Oregon also use them, and Colorado’s regulators studied policies in those states as they drafted the proposed rules.
Xcel’s first preemptive shutoff affected 55,000 customers ahead of a 2024 windstorm. Some customers went days without electricity as the company inspected its lines and equipment for damage after the storm before restoring power.
The complaints were so widespread that the PUC launched an investigation.
Xcel conducted two more preemptive power shutoffs in December and January that once again caused public outcry, leading the Colorado General Assembly to summon the utility’s Colorado chief executive to the state Capitol to testify about the power shutoffs.
Xcel Energy-Colorado president Robert Kenney told legislators that the company uses power shutoffs “sparingly and judiciously” in the most extreme weather conditions.
