Colorado electric customers without power Monday due to winds

7 May 2024, 00:21 published

[ad_1]

Xcel’s outage map showed about 140 service orders across a good portion of the Front Range as of 3 p.m.

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — More than 10,000 Xcel Energy customers were without power Monday afternoon as strong winds buffeted Front Range communities.

As of 3 p.m., the energy giant’s outage map showed about 140 outage orders stretching from Boulder and Nederland to the northwest, along the foothills corridor and going all the way south as Roxborough Park. Denver its suburbs also showed a number of outages, but those weren’t affecting many customers, according to Xcel’s outage map.

The largest outage reported as of 2:40 p.m. was in the Golden area. Xcel’s map said more than 2,600 customers were without power and that the expected restoration time was 4 p.m.

An Xcel spokesperson said the outages are not caused by preemptive rolling outages that the company instituted during last month’s windstorm.

The spokesperson said the system is set to wildfire safety operations, meaning that when wind damages electrical equipment and causes an outage, the outages may be more frequent and last longer.

In normal situations, when a tree hits a power line, the equipment would attempt to restore power automatically. During Monday’s wind event, Xcel said it modified settings to prevent automatic restoration. The spokesperson said crews will be out patrolling to check on equipment, making sure it’s safe to turn the power back on.