Residents frustrated as Colorado city suffers frequent power outages

CBS News

3 days ago

Residents are voicing their frustration after a city in Colorado has suffered weeks of frequent and prolonged power outages.
Since mid-June, residents in the Columbine Hills area of Littleton have experienced six outages, two of which lasted more than four hours. Many say they've received little explanation as to why.
At Columbine Wines and Liquors, employee Peggy Welton is doing everything she can to keep the lights on, quite literally.
"We have our handheld flashlights still handy dandy," Welton said. "If you have to go into the cooler or anything, it's dark. We've got our lanterns!"
Welton has also taken on the responsibility of firing up the store's generator whenever the power cuts out.
"If the power completely goes out, I can't take credit cards. I have nothing. Once this system goes down, I can't even get into the cash drawer," she said.
Just one street over, Catherine VonMinden works from home. When the power goes out, she loses more than just lights.
"If I'm out, my whole team has to pick up the slack. I lose hours, I lose money," she said. "My partner is on conference calls all day, doing things, so it's a big deal."
According to Xcel Energy, the Columbine Hills neighborhood has experienced six outages since mid-June, ranging from about one hour to nearly five hours. The causes of the two most recent outages remain undetermined.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the company says in part, "While most outages are out of our control, such as weather events, animal contact or damage due to lines being struck, we make every effort to investigate and remedy those causes that are related to our equipment. In this case, we are inspecting the lines using drones and other technology and determining next steps for ensuring reliability."
These recent outages come just months after the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) placed Xcel on an improvement plan.
The move followed an investigation launched last fall into widespread complaints about outages and customer service problems. That investigation revealed a significant spike in outages and major concerns about how customers were being treated.
The chair of the commission, Erick Blank, was shocked by the findings.
"This is a regulated monopoly operating in a legally defined service territory where competition is prohibited," the chair said. "And in return for that privilege of operating as a monopoly, they shouldn't be driving profit increases at the expense of customers. Aren't they obligated to act in the public interest; answer the phone, bill customers properly, and respond to outages?" he said during an April 30th meeting.
Xcel is now required to submit quarterly updates to the state on both outages and customer service improvements. The first of those reports was submitted in July. According to Xcel, the company has made progress in both areas.
But some customers remain skeptical.
"Taking some responsibility would be really great," VonMinden said. "Just saying, 'I'm sorry this has happened several times, here's how we can help you in the future.'"
The full investigation from the Colorado Public Utilities Commission is available online.