Xcel Energy said more than 500 crew members were out checking some 600 miles of power lines so they can be reenergized following the windstorm that shut off power to more than 150,000 customers starting on Saturday.

Xcel said it expects to have 90% of customer power restored by Monday night.

The company had shut off power to some 55,000 customers to “enhance public safety and decrease the risk of wildfire,” while 100,000 others experienced power outages caused by the high winds. 

Xcel couldn’t say how many powerlines were damaged by the wind as of press time.

As of Sunday afternoon, Xcel Energy said crews restored power to about 63,000 customers, but that more than 87,000 were still experiencing outages statewide. Xcel also said that, as the winds diminished, they were able to use drones and helicopters to speed up inspections of power lines.

Customers’ frustration was palpable to Gov. Jared Polis, who urged people to be “nice” to the utility workers.   

“I understand everyone’s frustration with Xcel’s decision to cut power this weekend but please use patience and kindness to frontline Utility workers working to RESTORE power to the community,” Polis said in a post on X. “They weren’t the ones who made the decision. They’re just trying to restore power and many of them are working overtime, so let’s be nice.”

Xcel’s decision to preemptively shutdown power because of the severe weather event was not unexpected.     

In early March, Xcel notified some 200,000 customers that an impending windstorm might disrupt power for an extended time. The company took precautionary measures to avoid shutting down power by adjusting the parameters on their equipment to prevent automatic reclosers from restoring power to lines that suffered brief power interruptions typically caused by tree branches touching lines in the wind, causing arcing.

On Saturday, Xcel took safety precautions up a notch by — for the first time ever — shutting off power to customers in Boulder, Gilpin, Larimer, Douglas, Broomfield and Jefferson Counties.

In doing so, Xcel appears to be taking a page from power companies in California, which have been cutting off power when high winds are predicted since the catastrophic 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County, about 90 miles north of Sacramento. That fire burned more than 150,000 acres, destroyed the town of Paradise and killed 85 people.

The Camp Fire was determined to have been caused by a hook on an insulator breaking, dropping an energized wire that sparked against the nearly 100-year-old metal tower.

Some of the California shutdowns have affected hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses. According to the California Public Utilities Commission, there were 14 instances of power shutdowns in three regions in 2023.

In Colorado, nearly 17% of the homes, representing 373,900 residences, are located in areas of the state considered at high and extreme risk for wildfires,

according to calculations by Verisk Analytics, Inc., an insurance industry analytics firm.

Another 14% of homes, or 301,700 additional housing units, are in areas at moderate risk of wildfires, the analysis said. 

Xcel reported previously that in 2020, its power and transmission lines sparked 647 fires in the areas of Colorado at high risk for wildfires.

Denver saw winds averaging 60 to 70 mph on Saturday, and, at one point, the foothills reported wind gusts of more than 100 mph. 

Similar wind conditions had fanned the Marshall fire that tore through more than a thousand homes and killed two people in Superior, Louisville and Boulder County three years ago.

The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office said the Marshall fire was actually two separate fires started by two separate causes, one of which was an unmoored Xcel power line near the Marshall Mesa Trailhead. Xcel disputed that claim.

The company said that, since 2019, it has invested more than $450 million in wildfire mitigation activities.

Federal and local governments have similarly hunkered down to reduce wildfire risks. Last October, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded Colorado’s electric utilities $200 million to enhance grid resiliency and for wildfire mitigation.

Xcel received $100 million to boost its resiliency and wildfire program. The grant requires $142 million in cost sharing from Xcel.

“These investments will better prepare our grid for severe storms and a changing climate – while also keeping customer bills low,” Robert Kenney, president of Xcel Energy-Colorado, said in a statement to The Denver Gazette at the time. 

Xcel said its projects will add fire-resistant coatings to 6,000 wood poles; improve equipment safety features in power lines and electric vehicle chargers in high fire risk conditions; move high-risk distribution circuits underground; and, enhance vegetation management.

Xcel’s resiliency projects are expected to take five years, with detailed design and planning in 2024 and projects scheduled to be completed by late 2028.