Xcel under investigation for power outages

DENVER — Being left in the dark can make you feel a little powerless. Literally and figuratively. Don't underestimate the power of complaining.

Xcel customers have complained to 9NEWS and the state regulator, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC), about sporadic power outages.

On Wednesday morning, the PUC launched a new investigation.

“All games, lights and pay machines run on electricity, of course,” said Caitlyn Braun.

Braun is a member of the Lincoln/Broadway Corridor Registered Neighborhood Organization and works at the Players Pub on Broadway.

“We have arcade games, we show sports, a lot of people from the neighborhood meet there,” said Braun.

The pub is located in a four-block area that has already experienced unplanned power outages.

“When you close, you look across the street because you have no lights, the lights are on. Everything is business as usual,” Braun said. “Everything is fine on the west side of Broadway, and those four blocks on the east side of Broadway are just dark again.”

“I'm getting calls from neighbors across the street saying, 'Hey, I see your power went out again, is there anything we can do for you?'” Blake Davis said.

Davis is the HOA president of the Bell Tower Lofts at Second Avenue and Lincoln Street and also sits on the board of the Lincoln/Broadway Corridor neighborhood group.

“Last year, I think we had about six outages,” Davis said. “This year, we've had 13 outages so far.”

Complaints from him and others led to the PUC's agenda item on Wednesday morning.

“We are here this morning to discuss the possibility of the commission opening an investigation into the recent power outages on the Public Service Company of Colorado grid,” said Erin O'Neill, deputy director of the PUC.

Xcel Energy is known in PUC proceedings as a Colorado public service company.

The Commission agreed to launch an investigation after hundreds of complaints about unplanned outages.

“According to PUC Consumer Protection staff, there have been approximately 250 repair complaints filed this summer alone since May 1, 2024,” O'Neill said. “Some examples of this range from the Sterling Ranch area in Littleton to Grand Junction and Palisade. From Boulder down to Central Denver along Broadway and out to Platteville.”

After dozens of power outages, residents of Sterling Ranch held a community meeting last month.

The CEO of the Downtown Boulder Partnership filed a complaint about several power outages in the Hill District in August.

“We want them to improve the infrastructure,” Davis said. “If other parts of town have had more than 13 power outages, they'll address those first.”

In an emailed statement, Xcel confirmed that there have been 10 outages in the Lincoln/Broadway corridor this year.

“Lincoln/Broadway Corridor – There have been 10 permanent power outages since the beginning of the year,” said an Xcel spokesperson. “Of those 10, four were caused by animal contact, three were caused by equipment failure and one was weather-related. There was also a 28-minute outage due to planned construction in the area. No cause could be determined for the most recent outage, but crews have been replacing fuses in the area to prevent further equipment-related outages.”

Regarding Sterling Ranch, Xcel reported 46 outages for various reasons.

“Sterling Ranch – There were 46 outages affecting more than 10 customers and lasting between two minutes and six hours (not including the safety power shutoff on April 6). Outage causes were identified as line damage from construction, cable faults, conductor contact, conductor voltage, shutdown for maintenance, an overloaded transformer and outages of unknown cause,” an Xcel spokesperson said. “These outages are attributed to load growth as rapid redevelopment is occurring in this area. At a community meeting two weeks ago, we presented several solutions to address many of these outages, including completing the new Waterton substation in October 2024, repairing and replacing old equipment, and installing communications systems to help crews identify and resolve the causes of the outages more quickly.”

Here are the other areas affected by the recent unplanned power outages and the reasons given by Xcel.

• Applewood Business Area – Causes of extended outages since the beginning of the year include two weather events, an equipment failure (blown fuse), and a safety restriction outage for employees to repair the system.
• Denver/Happy Canyon/University Hills – Short-term outages were caused by a capacity issue due to a cable fault, which was replaced and the outages have been resolved.
• Louisville – Crews checked the lines but could not find a cause.

“I've talked to some of the linesmen, too, and they're doing God's work out there,” Davis said. “Just have a hell of a lot of respect for them.”

Xcel has a claim form that customers can fill out if they wish to request compensation from the utility due to an unplanned power outage.

However, the form states that the company is responsible for certain damages if they were caused by Xcel's negligence.

“However, we are not responsible for injuries or losses caused by circumstances beyond our control, such as equipment failure or natural disasters (floods, fires, or weather-related incidents).”

“It seems like you need itemized receipts, you need to prove the losses and all that stuff,” Braun said. “Companies buy in bulk. You don't have itemized receipts for three pounds of meat and so on. But it's pretty easy to look up a day's sales and say, 'Hey, last year or the year before last we made $1,000 on this day, can you pay us back $1,000?'”