Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday rebuked Xcel Energy’s decision to preemptively shut off power to roughly tens of thousands of customers in anticipation of strong winds over the weekend, saying it should have been done “as a last resort.”

That decision, Polis said, “further harmed Xcel’s reputation and social license.” 

The windstorm that hammered the Front Range over the weekend left a trail of residents upset at Xcel, who said they did not receive any notice until just a few hours before their power was cut off, forcing them to scramble.

In his letter to Robert Kenney, president of Xcel Energy-Colorado, the governor said the company should change its approach to minimize the loss of power and noted the frustration of customers over what he described as the lack of clear communication from the energy company. 

“I heard from many frustrated Coloradans who lost power for multiple days without clear indication from Xcel when it would be restored — from businesses that could not operate and lost perishable inventories and income, from hospitals that struggled to respond to vulnerable community members, and from schools that had to close all day Monday,” Polis said in his letter to Xcel’s Kenney.

“This particular storm should not have resulted in as many people losing power for such a long period of time,” the governor added. 

In what appears to be a page out of the playbook of energy companies in California, Xcel for the first time preemptively shut down power to about 55,000 customers over the weekend, when metro Denver saw winds averaging 60 to 70 mph and, at one point, the foothills reported wind gusts of more than 100 mph.

The company said the preemptive move was meant to increase public safety and decrease the risk of wildfires. 

Polis said that “unprecedented” decision caught Coloradans off guard.  

“Once again, the company failed to minimize outages and effectively communicate with customers about an upcoming change that would impact people’s regular lives,” he said. 

The governor didn’t specify any previous incident, but back in 2022 he slammed an administrative ruling that favors Xcel’s request to recover $509 million from Colorado ratepayers for the costs incurred during a winter spell in 2021 that wreaked havoc throughout the Midwest, killing more than 200 people nationwide.

In his letter, Polis told Kenney he also directed the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, which regulates Xcel and other utilities, to seek “reforms” to protect customers in the event of another “Public Safety Power Shutoff.”

The governor said the regulatory agency should adopt “guardrails” to ensure that a deliberate move to shut off power occurs only “when consistent with the public interest and when absolutely necessary.”

These decisions, the governor said, must “contemplate the costs of such an extreme measure such as disruptions to business, education, those who rely on electricity for life and death health needs, and other factors need to be fully considered.”

He told the regulatory agency to reach out to affected customers so the commissioners can hear “firsthand” about their experience during the outage, he said. 

Polis said he also directed the agency to ensure that, in case a future outage is “deemed essential and the benefits outweigh the full costs,” customers must have access to “timely, comprehensible, and relevant information” about the timing and location of the outages, the support services available, and the expected restoration timelines.

Meanwhile, Boulder County’s commissioners said they met with Xcel leaders on Monday to understand why the company implemented the proactive power outage.

“We also questioned the necessity for the extent of the preventive outages,” the commissioners said in a news release, which cited Xcel leaders as saying proactive outages are a small but crucial part of their emerging wildfire mitigation strategy and that they believe the decision was crucial for mitigating potential fires.

Xcel leaders also provided assurances they understand better communications are needed and that they are working to improve them, the county commissioners said.