Xcel Energy extends power outage through Monday for Boulder County customers

Power lines run west from the Xcel Energy Valmont Power Station. (Daily Camera file photo)

Boulder County Xcel Energy customers may experience power outages through Monday as crews work to safely restore power lines, a utility company spokesman said Sunday.

Xcel Energy now expects power to be off through Monday for an estimated 150,000 customers, including those in Boulder County, according to Andrew Holder, director of community relations at Xcel Energy. Getting power back on some time Monday is a “moving target” as crews need to wait for winds to die down, Holder said. About 150 Xcel workers are working Sunday and Monday to restore power, he said.

Xcel Energy de-energized more than 600 miles of power lines around 3 p.m. Saturday as weather forecasters predicted high winds along the Front Range, according to information on the company’s website. Crews will need to visually inspect power lines to ensure safety before restoring power, according to an Xcel tweet Sunday morning. Power restoration might extend past Monday for some customers, Xcel said.

Xcel cut off power to about 55,000 customers in Boulder, Gilpin, Larimer, Douglas, Broomfield and Jefferson Counties around 3 p.m. Saturday. About 100,000 additional customers lost power due to the high winds, the company said.

Wind gusts of up to 97 mph were reported over Saturday night, according to a BoulderCAST weather service social media post. The National Weather Service reported that winds were expected to slowly diminish throughout the afternoon Sunday.

Before the power outage, Xcel Energy said that it would consider temporarily de-energizing power lines due to the high fire danger, turning off electrical service to customers in certain areas of Boulder, Gilpin and Jefferson counties. Street lights were out at several key intersections on Arapahoe Avenue in Boulder and at some intersections along the Diagonal Highway between Boulder and Longmont as extremely high winds gusted through the area.

The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning signifying high fire danger from noon Saturday through 6 p.m. Sunday, as well as a high wind warning effective through noon Sunday for the Boulder County area.

“Turning off customers’ power is not something we take lightly, but intended to decrease the risk of wildfire,” Xcel wrote in a statement. “If any proactive de-energization is necessary, we will attempt to contact affected customers directly.”

Our top priority is ensuring the safety of our communities, customers and work crews. With this weekend’s extremely high winds creating elevated wildfire risk, we may need to

— Xcel Energy Colorado (@XcelEnergyCO) April 6, 2024

Before the shut-off, Xcel Energy said its decision to interrupt electrical service was based on expert analysis of meteorological data, weather conditions and digital model simulations.

Poudre Valley REA, a power company serving customers in Boulder, Longmont and the surrounding areas, reported some outages Saturday. It was not immediately clear what caused those outages.