Commerce City residents fed up with constant power outages

DENVER (KDVR) — A neighborhood in Commerce City is feeling powerless in more ways than one, dealing with power outages they say happen consistently every week.

In the north side of town near Adams City High School, FOX31 recently had multiple viewers contact us about power outages that don’t seem to end.

Rachelle Kephart has lived in the area for more than 50 years. Outages have happened regularly for years, she says, but this year it’s gotten worse.

“Every week, every other week,” said Kephart.

The most recent, Thursday morning, lasted for five hours. The time before that?

“Six or seven hours the last time,” said Kephart.

Kephart’s neighbors feel the struggle too, with no power impacting everything in their lives, including their food storage.

“What if we have stuff in the freezer that’s gonna thaw out? Are they gonna, are they gonna pay for it to get reimbursed for us?” said Claudia Martin.

The outages are even impacting schoolwork for kids in the area, who have to complete assignments on computers.

“They can’t plug it in to charge it, they can’t do it,” said Martin.

Kephart works at a nearby restaurant, which had to close for the entire day thanks to the latest outage.

“That’s a lot of money out of our pockets,” she said.

The residents say calling Xcel Energy has been no help, getting no answers for why this happens or how it’s being fixed.

FOX31 reached out to the company, which said the issues are caused in part by sensitive settings on power lines to help counteract wildfire danger. Other issues they list include blown fuses, animal contact with lines and cars hitting power poles.

Whatever the cause, residents remain irritated.

“It’s even more frustrating when it goes out after it’s been on for, off for a minute, then comes on for five, ten minutes, then goes back out,” said Kephart.

And they want it taken care of as soon as possible.

“Fix it. That’s all I can say,” said Elaine Wilson.

Xcel said it is actively working on multiple fixes, including patrolling and tightening lines, installing new equipment and adjusting settings to lessen outage impacts.

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