Chair Mark Blank told the Colorado Public Utilities Commission on Dec. 17 that Xcel Energy would begin a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) at 10 a.m. that morning and that the company had identified about 50,000 customers who could be affected in Jefferson, Boulder, Weld, Larimer and Clear Creek counties.

"Xcel confirmed that it'll be initiating a PSPS at 10AM today, impacting roughly 50,000 customers in Jefferson, Boulder, Weld, Larimer, and Clear Creek Counties," Blank said, describing the company’s planned use of enhanced "fast trip" settings that make lines more sensitive and can cause immediate outages when a hazard is detected.

Commissioner Gilman and Commissioner Plant urged staff to review the company’s execution of the shutoff and lessons learned from an April 2024 PSPS. Gilman emphasized the need for improved customer communications and coordination with emergency-management partners after the earlier event left many customers unsure whether outages were part of a planned shutoff or storm damage.

Blank asked staff to present a post-event review once the PSPS concluded and to continue work on permanent rules for power-safety events. "Once this event isn't concluded, however, I'd like staff to review what went well and what didn't," he said.

The commissioners did not take formal regulatory enforcement action during the meeting; instead they signaled that they would expect a follow-up evaluation and requested ongoing quarterly or bimonthly reporting tied to the utility’s wildfire mitigation work.

The PUC urged customers in the affected counties to follow Xcel’s safety and outage guidance and to sign up for any company or county alerting systems to get updates on restoration times.