As extreme weather intensifies across the globe, wildfires have become a growing and well-documented threat to Colorado\u2019s communities. Some areas of the state now experience 50 additional fire-weather days each year compared to the 1970s.<\/p>\n
At Xcel Energy, we are addressing this heightened public safety risk to help keep our customers and communities safe. One of the ways we do this is through a \u201cpublic safety power shutoff\u201d or what we call a PSPS.<\/p>\n
Implementing a power shutdown is not a step we take lightly because we know how disruptive power outages can be. We are proud to deliver a 99.97% reliability rate for our customers, and this is something we work hard to maintain. We deploy power shutdowns only when conditions \u2013 which we evaluate objectively, taking into account a range of factors, including extreme wind speeds, humidity and low fuel moisture \u2013 leave us no other choice.<\/p>\n
In December and January, our communities faced periods of extreme weather that significantly elevated the risk of wildfire and prompted us to conduct PSPS events. Doing this was necessary to protect the safety of our customers and communities.<\/p>\n
We stand by our decision.<\/p>\n
Weather conditions in December were so severe that the National Weather Service issued a \u201cparticularly dangerous situation\u201d Red Flag Warning. The sustained hundred-mile-per-hour winds \u2013 combined with other factors like the unusually warm temperatures and dryness of the air and the surrounding terrain \u2013 created extreme risks to public safety, which more than satisfied our criteria to conduct a PSPS.<\/p>\n
An inspection of our system after conditions cleared in December revealed significant damage to equipment in hard-to-reach areas near Evergreen and Boulder where a wildfire would have been difficult to contain. While it\u2019s not possible to estimate the exact damage that could have occurred had these lines been energized, the conditions at the time suggest that any ignition had the potential to become a catastrophic fire. Similarly, the extreme wind we experienced in January prompted the weather service to issue another Red Flag Warning, and a power shutdown in Larimer and Weld counties was necessary.<\/p>\n
PSPS events are not the only way we are working to mitigate wildfire risk. As part of our 2025 \u2013 2027 Wildfire Mitigation Plan, Xcel Energy is investing $1.9 billion toward enhancing grid resiliency, maintaining and upgrading our systems and improving customer communications. Our progress in 2025 included expanding our situational awareness capabilities by installing 80 new AI cameras and 102 new weather stations. We visually inspected approximately 3,600 miles of transmission lines and met 108% of our vegetation management target to drive grid resilience and safety. We also hired additional team members to further strengthen our meteorological and risk assessment capabilities.<\/p>\n