New ‘last resort’ wildfire prevention plan would cut off power to homes in southern Colorado
Michael Logerwell
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) – Stopping wildfires could come at the cost of losing power in your home for the span of hours – or days.
Black Hills Energy says by the middle of the summer, they plan to have their new Public Safety Power Shutoff program up and running – a program the utility calls a “last-resort safety measure.”
Through the program, Black Hills Energy will proactively shut off power in high fire-risk areas during extreme weather, such as intense winds and low humidity, to reduce the chance of wildfires sparked by electrical equipment until conditions improve.
Campbell Hawkins, vice president of Colorado Utilities at Black Hills, says the specific conditions that would trigger a shutoff include sustained wind gusts around 50 miles per hour and persistently low humidity.
“When those two conditions combine – both high winds as well as low humidity – those are the conditions that are ripe for wildfire,” Campbell said.
But customers won’t be left in the dark without warning. 24 to 48 hours before a potential shutoff, Black Hills Energy says customers will receive a watch alert, encouraging them to prepare for a possible outage.
A further warning will be issued if conditions are likely to require a shutoff, and once conditions improve, power will be restored, Black Hills Energy said.
Breakdown of the timeline surrounding a potential PSPS decision.
The company says they’ve already heard concerns from residents who rely heavily on electricity.
“Customers that are on life support equipment, some of the eldercare facilities – all of which are top of mind to us and top of mind to our customers. It’s why we’re out there informing those customers of what’s to come with this Public Safety Power Shutoff program,” Campbell said.
Black Hills said that, based on past years’ weather and research done while preparing the program, the shutoff would have been used only a handful of times per year.
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