A second shutoff, a rare NWS 'Particularly Dangerous Situation,' and 100+ mph winds push outage counts higher—and stretch restoration into the weekend.
December 19th, 2025: A second shutoff loomsNew here? Follow stories to track developments over time. Create a free account to get updates when stories you care about change.
Xcel Energy's deliberate blackout on Colorado's Front Range didn't end neatly when the wind eased. By the time crews could start patrols, the first PSPS was entangled with widespread storm damage. Xcel said total weather-related outages reached about 120,000—far beyond the roughly 50,000 customers initially targeted for de-energization.
Xcel carried out a second PSPS early Friday, Dec. 19, targeting about 69,000 customers across six counties while forecasters warned of exceptionally dangerous fire weather. Restoration won't be immediate even after winds subside; crews must physically inspect lines before re-energizing. Most customers should return by Sunday, Dec. 21; some may slip into Monday, Dec. 22.
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Fictional AI pastiche — not real quote.
"A curious remedy indeed—to guard against fire, we now extinguish the very light itself! One wonders whether our descendants shall next prevent drowning by draining the rivers, or stop bad news by silencing the messenger."
Fictional AI pastiche — not real quote.
"A marvel of modern caution—sacrificing present comfort to prevent catastrophe! Yet I wonder: when the wealthy monopoly decides which homes shall have light and which shall sit in darkness, have we built a system of public service or feudal privilege? In my day, we invested our fortunes in libraries that would outlast any windstorm; today's captains of industry invest in switches to turn civilization on and off at will."
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A major multi-state utility using planned outages to reduce wildfire ignition risk.
Xcel’s Colorado utility that decides when and where the lights go out for safety.
Colorado’s referee for the core PSPS question: safety tool or unacceptable service failure.
The warning system utilities treat as a trigger for shutting parts of the grid down.
A major local institution illustrating how fast PSPS disrupts daily life.
Xcel evaluates another PSPS as new high-wind conditions could overlap ongoing restoration work.
Xcel enacted the second PSPS and warned extreme wind could trigger additional outages beyond the shutoff footprint, with re-energization delayed until inspections can confirm lines are safe.
Local reporting put the number of customers without power at roughly 84,000 during the second round, with Boulder County among the hardest hit and local closures aimed at reducing ignition risk.
Xcel said it would begin inspections and repairs as conditions eased, projecting a large number of customers restored by Sunday (Dec. 21) at noon and some restorations extending into Monday (Dec. 22).
Xcel said total weather-related outages reached about 120,000 as of Wednesday evening, combining PSPS shutoffs with extensive wind-driven damage, and warned restoration could take hours to days after required line inspections.
Xcel confirmed a second PSPS beginning at 5 a.m. Friday, targeting roughly 69,000 customers across six counties as exceptionally dry, high-wind conditions returned.
Xcel initiates a Public Safety Power Shutoff affecting about 50,000 customers across multiple counties amid extreme wind and low humidity.
Closures and schedule changes ripple across institutions as restoration depends on post-wind patrols.
With Red Flag conditions forecast, the company tells customers to prepare for a PSPS starting Wednesday.
Texas sues an Xcel unit over the Smokehouse Creek wildfire, spotlighting the cost of ignitions.
Ahead of severe weather, Xcel activates enhanced powerline safety settings while avoiding a PSPS event.
A unanimous settlement greenlights a multi-year mitigation package that includes PSPS playbooks and customer protections.
Colorado’s PUC closes its PSPS investigation and orders stronger notification and coordination steps.
Xcel preemptively de-energizes lines for wildfire risk, affecting tens of thousands of customers.
Predict which scenario wins. Contrarian picks score more — points lock in when the scenario resolves.
More wind events trigger more shutoffs, and PSPS quietly becomes seasonal infrastructure—like snowplows, but for fire weather. The trigger is simple: repeated near-miss wind events without major fires, plus regulators accepting PSPS as the least-bad option. Over time, the fight shifts from “should you do this?” to “how many hours, how much notice, and what backup power support do customers get?”
If outages drag on, overlap into multiple days, or hit critical corridors repeatedly, pressure builds for stricter guardrails—harder thresholds, mandatory local coordination, clearer critical-customer protections, and potentially financial remedies. The trigger would be a high-profile failure in communications or a medically significant incident tied to loss of power, pushing the PUC to treat PSPS like a regulated last resort rather than a utility discretion.
Instead of turning off whole areas, Xcel leans harder on more granular protection settings, sectionalization, and faster fault isolation—keeping more customers energized while still lowering ignition risk. The trigger is performance: fewer ignitions plus faster restoration metrics that prove automation can substitute for broad PSPS footprints on all but the worst days.
A major fire linked to electrical equipment—or a fire that spreads during an outage—reshapes the political map. The trigger would be a catastrophic event with clear attribution, producing new lawsuits and a credibility crisis. Paradoxically, the response could still be more PSPS, not less, as utilities and insurers demand maximum ignition prevention even at the cost of more frequent disruptions.
After catastrophic wildfires and massive liability exposure, California utilities began using Public Safety Power Shutoffs at large scale. The outages were widely criticized for poor notice and broad impact, but also became a central risk-management tool during extreme fire weather.
PSPS expanded while regulators demanded better communication and backup-power planning.
Utilities invested heavily in vegetation management, hardening, automation, and undergrounding to reduce shutoff frequency.
Colorado is replaying an earlier chapter of the same story: safety-driven outages before a fire, then policy fights after.
A grass fire driven by extreme winds tore through Superior and Louisville, destroying over a thousand structures and killing two people. Later investigations described a second ignition involving electrical arcing near Xcel infrastructure, which the company disputed.
Colorado’s awareness of wind-plus-drought fire risk shifted from theory to lived experience.
Utility wildfire mitigation and emergency preparedness gained urgency, setting the stage for PSPS acceptance—and anger.
It explains why wind forecasts now trigger preemptive power decisions: people have seen what those winds can do.
The Texas Panhandle’s Smokehouse Creek wildfire became a landmark utility-linked disaster, followed by investigations, settlements, and—by late 2025—a major lawsuit by the state. The political message was blunt: ignitions can become existential legal and financial events for utilities.
Wildfire prevention became a board-level priority across utility footprints.
Utilities increasingly treat de-energization and hardening as cheaper than litigation and catastrophe.
PSPS looks less like overreaction when the alternative is a billion-dollar courtroom fight.