Restaurants west of Denver are still coming to grips with product losses and future revenue concerns after power shutoffs last week by Xcel Energy, which cited high winds as the rationale for the decision.

“It’s like living in a third-world country,” Brandon Bortles, owner of Nosu Ramen and Abejas Bistro in Golden, said Tuesday. “We’re all behind the eight ball. I want to know: Are we going to do this 10 times a year? What are we going to do in the future? Just shut down the town every day?”

Xcel Energy turned off the power multiple times to at least 48,000 customers amid severe winds and extreme wildfire danger between Wednesday and Friday. As many as 160,000 customers lost power at some point, officials said.

The initial shutoff occurred on Wednesday morning and continued until Thursday. The power was shut off again in a larger area on Friday, with some places, like Evergreen, not seeing power restored until Sunday.

Restaurants in Evergreen, Golden and Boulder were hit the hardest. Multiple power outages, without concrete timelines, led to loss of food in freezers and walk-ins, loss of revenue, and an increase in labor costs to return stock to normal, they said.

Bortles, for example, estimated that he lost around $50,000 to $75,000 in both product and revenue over the five-day stretch, with both of his restaurants being without power until Sunday.

“We have thrown away about $40,000 in just food products and the labor it took to create our products,” said Tyler Butler, general manager of Evergreen Bread Lounge. “This number does not include what products would have sold for.”

Bortles said things would have been worse if a collection of Golden restaurants hadn’t banded together to save food with generators.

“Everyone was being very safe,” he said. “I was proud of how much food we were able to save. But we jumped through hoops to make that happen.”

That wasn’t the only example of quick thinking and resilience that helped businesses during the blackouts, they said.

Suz Cookie Jar Rescue Bakery owner Sue Mueller described the situation as an “absolute wreck.”

Her team had already baked a plethora of goods to sell before the holiday week, when Mueller usually takes her only break during the year.

With the power shut off, they had no way to sell it all.

“I couldn’t stop crying,” she said. “It was just a loss of income. We had all of this product, and I didn’t know what to do with it. I really relied on having these couple of days to add a bunch of money to the till.”

Things were bleak. The staff held their holiday party in the dark on Friday.

“We’re just a little business. It’s already been a tough year for us,” she added. “We were kind of on the right path, but losing this money and not knowing how to take care of the things I need to do, my brain was just melting.”

Mueller’s daughter told her to take her bus and go into town. So, she loaded up the vehicle with her goods, posted on Facebook, and traveled to the Safeway parking lot in Evergreen.

She later parked next to her neighbor, Marshdale Burger Co., which was also selling products out of a food truck. She was able to sell her entire inventory.

The business is still baking to help local businesses and wholesalers this week, foregoing the holiday break.

“We’re creating band aids, really. It’s still going to be rough,” she said.

HOSPITALS AND GROCERY STORES

Restaurants were not the only places affected by the blackouts.

As the dust settled from last week’s windstorms, customers of the King Soopers grocery store in South Boulder, which lost power, faced almost-empty freezers.

Several grocery stores in and around Boulder ran out of ice, as people gathered what they could to fill their own refrigerators when the power went out.

In Boulder and Jefferson counties, several Safeway stores temporarily closed or had limited operations but resumed normal operations when power returned, Safeway spokesperson Heather Halpape told The Denver Gazette.

Safeway stores are equipped with generators to stay open whenever possible and prioritize safety and food quality, Halpape said.

A King Soopers spokesperson did not respond to The Denver Gazette’s request for comment on losses and the impact their stores faced due to the windstorms.

Sprouts declined to comment on the same inquiry.

While no hospitals were directly affected by the outages, Jordan Vogel — a spokesperson for CommonSpirit Health — told The Denver Gazette that “multiple days worth of outpatient surgeries and procedures” were rescheduled due to a power outage at a medical office building on the St. Anthony Hospital campus in Lakewood.

“Those appointments can include things like physical or occupational therapies or radiation treatment for cancer patients,” she said.

Regarding the hospitals, she said St. Anthony Hospital has two generators ready, though it only needs one to power the entire building.

“Xcel Energy has made us aware these power shutdowns could become more frequent, and we are working with our building services teams to identify how we can mitigate the impact on our patients moving forward,” she added.

Countless court dates were also moved at the Jefferson County Court, which remained without power through the end of the week.

INSURANCE AND LAWSUITS NOT AN OPTION

As businesses seek help in recouping losses, avenues of insurance claims or lawsuits against Xcel don’t appear to be an option.

Colorado law and utility rules issued by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission limit liability for service interruptions, even when outages result from proactive de-energization to prevent wildfires.

Jack Luellen, senior counsel at Buchalter, said these rules mean the company is not liable unless the customer proves gross negligence or willful misconduct.

For example, said Luellen, if a court finds gross negligence or willful misconduct, the rate-rule shield may not apply.

If evidence shows Xcel knowingly ignored severe defects in infrastructure — such as cracked poles or faulty hangar hardware — that directly necessitated the shutoff, a claim could proceed. Discovery in litigation could reveal inspection records, maintenance logs, or internal documents.

Regarding business insurance claims, an insurance agent, who spoke on condition of anonymity to freely share thoughts, told The Denver Gazette that “this wasn’t Mother Nature.”

“It was caused by a company. I’m not sure,” the agent said.

“A lot of us were told this doesn’t qualify under business interruption, and that’s a problem,” Bortles said.

“Business insurance coverage depends heavily on policy language and we encourage businesses to review their policies carefully,” Genna Morton, a spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, told The Denver Gazette. “Losses from spoilage are often not considered a covered loss unless the policy specifies it. Additionally, there may be a waiting period, which is an amount of time that must pass after a covered event before the policy pays out for losses.”

Mueller, on the other hand, questioned whether a claim would even be worth it for small businesses: Even if a company can file a claim, it would possibly increase insurance rates drastically.

“Why do we not have a plan? Some type of city plan like generators. I also want to know if Xcel knew if this wouldn’t be covered under our insurance. They don’t care,” Bortles said.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Public Safety Power Shutoffs were detailed in Xcel’s nearly $2 billion 2025-2027 Wildfire Mitigation Plan approved by the Public Utility Commission in June.

The $1.9 billion plan includes mitigation efforts, such as moving 50 miles of power lines underground, rebuilding major transmission lines, keeping detailed track of aging transmission equipment, more employees, and the use of drones to increase the speed of inspections.

Furthermore, the plan is also supposed to set clear guidelines for power shutoffs, as well as accommodate the needs of critical power customers — including disabled persons who are placed at risk by power grid shutdowns.

While the outages are scheduled to prevent disasters, like the 2021 Marshall fire, residents wondered where the middle ground is between preventing destruction and hurting businesses.

“I truly understand this fire danger,” Bortles said. “But we found out about this the week they were doing it. The hard pill to swallow is also seeing Xcel’s profit from last year. I’ve lived here my whole life. They need to bury the lines on Highway 93. Bury those power lines.”

Xcel, which operates in eight states, made an estimated $1.9 billion in profits in 2024, according to its earnings report.

Mueller, on the other hand, understands the fire risk mitigation effort.

“We will get through it together. This community in Evergreen has always come forward to help small businesses,” Mueller said. “You have to take the good with the bad and keep moving forward. I really don’t want to see one of those awful fires happen again.”

Bortles wondered how the cities will help.

Golden officials, for example, spoke publicly about the outages on Facebook Friday, saying the city is pushing for “answers and accountability.”

The city also announced free parking until Jan. 1 and a campaign to get people to use local businesses.

Bortles said it’s not enough.

“Some businesses need immediate economic help, like sales tax deferments,” he said. “If there’s money in the coffers of the development authority, they should send it to the businesses. If we need legal assistance, that could help.”

The Denver Gazette reporters Kyla Pearce and Scott Weiser contributed to this report.