More than 150,000 Xcel Energy Inc. customers in Colorado are without electricity amid hurricane-force winds — and some may not get power back until Monday.
Those affected include about 55,000 customers who had their power cut preemptively by the utility on Saturday — a strategy used by electric companies to avoid sparking fires from power lines.
The strong winds led to about 100,000 more customers losing power as of early Sunday, the utility said. Xcel, which earlier said the preemptive outages would last until noon Sunday, now warns the restoration may extend into Monday as its crews conduct patrols to ensure it is safe to restore service.
An intense low pressure system is affecting much of the High Plains and Rockies amid strong gusty winds, the US National Weather Service said. Some areas west of Interstate 25 may see gusts as strong as 90 miles (145 kilometers) per hour, it said, though the winds will likely begin easing Sunday afternoon.
Xcel was found partially responsible for sparking the wind-driven Marshall Fire in 2021 that razed more than 1,000 homes in the suburbs of Boulder. Recently, the utility acknowledged that its broken power pole was likely involved in igniting the worst wildfire in Texas history.
Photograph: Power lines in Denver, Colorado. Photographer: Hyoung Chang/Denver Post/Getty Images.
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