States in the U.S. West are grappling with an unusually warm, arid winter that is ramping up fire risk in some areas, driving utilities to take drastic precautions, incl
uding sometimes shutting off the power in a bid to keep their equipment from sparking a potentially ruinous blaze.
Across large pockets of Texas, New Mexico and Colorado, fine grasses and brush that fuel fires have dried out as La Niña largely holds significant rain and snow at
bay— a pattern that’s projected to continue into the spring. As fire weather alerts from the U.S. National Weather Service loomed in Dece
mber and January, Xcel Energy Inc. ordered multiple rounds of preventative power cuts in Colorado for more than 50,000 customers, many in the Boulder and Fort Collins areas, reaching into the Rocky Mountains.
Related: Massive Wildfire Liabilities Push Utilities to Use AI to Stop Blazes
The shutoffs, known as “public safety power shutoffs,” are enacted so that during scorching, windy weather, power lines won’t inadvertently spark a blaze. Those moves ar
enes, Xcel executives were heeding advice from a team of weather scientists as they decided where and when to cut the flow of power. It “all starts with meteorology,” s
ays Paul McGregor, the company’s vice president of wildfire risk management.
It’s part of a broader trend across the utility industry, as companies beyond California — where PSPS programs were pioneered — seek to limit their risk of starting a deadly fire, and with it, their financial liability. Interventions lik
e burying lines underground can dramatically reduce fire risk, but can cost billions and take years to complete. Depending on where you live and how risky the conditions are, yo
ur power provider might tell you it’s turning off your lights for 18 hours or several days. Proactive safety shutoffs are sometimes employed at utilities from Hawaii to Texas.
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Hundreds of customers near Carson City, Nevada, lost power shortly before Christmas as high winds raged and fire risk spiraled, according to press reports, while resident
s outside Cheyenne, Wyoming, were told to prepare for a potential shutoff amid similar weather conditions in January.
Before he worked at Xcel, McGregor worked at Pacific Gas & Electric Co., the utility serving northern and central California. The company rolled out a shutoff p
rogram in 2018, building on an idea pioneered by San Diego’s utility. Since its first proactive power cut, PG&E’s meteorology team has developed a
system that has inspired other utilities to create their own shutoff programs, advising how best to track conditions and design shutoff protocols that can be deployed quickly.