Colorado regulators investigate complaints about Xcel Energy power outages

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission is investigating recent power outages reported by Xcel Energy customers to determine if the number of outages and complaints is increasing.

The three-member commission voted Wednesday to endorse PUC staff's recommendation to investigate the causes of the outages and the rules for reporting power interruptions. Staff will write a report and recommend changes.

Complaints from residents and business owners over a weekend in late August, as well as ongoing concerns in certain neighborhoods, prompted the PUC to act. Commission Chairman Eric Blank described the decision as a search for more information.

“The word 'investigation' suggests that there is necessarily a problem. It sounds like maybe we're not there yet. It sounds like we just have a series of questions and our process for doing that is an investigation protocol,” Blank said.

Erin O'Neill, deputy director of the PUC, said staff were trying to get the situation under control.

“That's the first step, just understanding the situation and seeing what's happening,” O'Neill said. “At this point, there's no indication the company has done anything wrong. We're just trying to figure out what the root causes are and what the company is doing to mitigate the situation where customers are experiencing outages.”

Those causes could include aging infrastructure or equipment that shuts off power to reduce the risk of wildfires. Xcel attributed the intermittent outages this summer in Silverthorne to overly sensitive settings on equipment that shuts off power lines.

In April, about 55,000 customers along the Front Range were affected by power outages when high winds swept through the area, knocking out electricity. Xcel was forced to proactively shut off power to minimize the risk of wildfires from electrical equipment knocked over by the wind. Commissioner Tom Plant asked whether the preemptive shutoffs had increased concerns about power outages.