More than a thousand homes in Silverthorne had no power for nearly four hours last night. The outage stretched into Wildernest and several homes in Copper.
Since late July, Silverthorne has suffered more than eight major power outages. At one point in August there were three in 24 hours, forcing businesses and the town rec center to close.
Now, the state is stepping in. Inspired by an April windstorm, when more than 150,000 Front Range customers lost power, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission is endorsing a series of new rules for Xcel when it cuts power on purpose.
Top of the list is better communication before and during planned outages. This includes telling customers about the touchy new “enhanced powerline safety setting” for wildfire prevention. Xcel told Silverthorne customers this setting was to blame for many outages this summer.
The utilities commission does not support getting rid of the safety setting, but it does want Xcel to be more proactive.
The Denver Post reports this is especially important for hospitals and wastewater treatment plants.