Overview
- At a nearly five-hour joint hearing, Xcel Colorado president Robert Kenney said PSPS are a last-resort safety tool and outlined steps to narrow their scope, including burying 50 miles of line in high‑risk areas, hardening wires, and deploying AI cameras and weather stations.
- The Colorado Public Utilities Commission said it is writing uniform PSPS rules for regulated utilities, with public comment continuing next week and a goal of finalizing the framework by late summer or early fall.
- December shutoffs left more than 100,000 customers without power and a January action cut service to about 9,000 more, with Boulder Chamber data showing average business losses above $25,000 and Golden survey results nearing $2 million in reported damages.
- Residents and local officials detailed confusing and conflicting outage information and risks to medically dependent customers; regulators noted a $2 million battery rebate program for income‑qualified medical needs slated to start in February.
- Xcel said it will not reimburse spoiled food or lost revenue and pointed to a $1.9–$2 billion 2025–2027 wildfire mitigation plan, while estimating full distribution undergrounding would cost about $15 billion and take roughly a decade.