12 hours ago
BOULDER, Colo. — The effects of Saturday's Xcel Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) are being felt differently across Boulder. Some residents and businesses are managing well, while others face difficulties.
Approximately 14,000 people in Boulder County are expected to be affected by the shutoff, scheduled from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
"There is this sense of anxiety," said Jonathan Singer, Senior Director of Policy Programs for the Boulder Chamber of Commerce. "And it's a real sense of anxiety — if this does last longer than what was expected, am I ready?"
Despite Xcel Energy's warning, not everyone was prepared.
“We had no idea that there was really any concern about the power until you guys called us," said Kate Malkinson, Shift Lead for OZO Coffee Shop on Pearl Street, speaking to Denver7's Tyler Melito early Saturday morning.
Malkinson explained that, similar to the December outage, if they lose power Saturday, they will likely close for the day.
"We're gonna try to stay open as long as we can, just roll with the punches," Malkinson said. "Our priority is keeping the community safe but it's definitely not ideal. We're a local business, we rely on every hour we can get, and all of us need to be paid."
Power loss also poses a risk to their inventory.
"We have a lot of dairy products," Malkinson added.
OZO plans to reopen Sunday, assuming no major issues arise from the outage, but the status of their dairy products remains uncertain.
Due to the uncertainty businesses face, Singer said the chamber and city are exploring ways to support the community moving forward.
"We can build, in the short term, things for our restaurants," Singer said. "When can we put in refrigerated trucks to make sure that food doesn't go bad? When can we make sure that for our seniors and our elders and other folks who are vulnerable, that they get their power on fast and quickly?"
Singer also emphasized long-term goals.
"Long-term, what can we do to build real resiliency within our grid?" he asked. "You're hearing about state legislation right now that's actually talking about new ways of funding this without even raising taxes."
For some Boulder businesses, the planned outage has resulted in increased customer traffic. McGuckin Hardware is one such example.
Manager Kris Sprigg said the outage has helped their business, especially since the winter season has been slower than expected.
"We have definitely been affected due to the lack of weather, if you will," Sprigg said. "As unfortunate as it is (to now have snow), we're definitely able to meet the customers' needs, and we definitely see a big uptick in travel during this time."
Customers have been purchasing a variety of items.
"Batteries and lanterns were basically the big things," Sprigg noted. "We definitely went through several hundred lanterns at the time. Generators were definitely big."
Sprigg hopes their store can provide peace of mind during this uncertain period.
"I just had a conversation with a young lady — that was her biggest panic this last time, was her cell phone almost didn't make it through the entire power outage," Sprigg recalled. "So, she actually came in and got one of the power banks from us."
The outage has also renewed calls to change how Xcel Energy's power lines are configured.
"We want Xcel to bury the power lines," Malkinson said. "We understand that it's a significant cost and it's a lot of time and a lot of money, but I think it's the best thing for our infrastructure, and it's a vital investment for our city, including both our residential areas and our commercial spaces. Improving the resilience and safety of our local grid remains a high priority for our community."
Sprigg shared with Melito that projects to bury lines underground are already underway, but Xcel Energy and the city are also considering other options.
"Sometimes that's burying power lines, sometimes that's microgrids, sometimes that's battery storage," Sprigg explained. "It's an all-of-the-above approach, and we're having those conversations with our Public Utilities Commission and our elected officials."
You can learn more about the undergrounding power lines project in Boulder here.
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