Xcel seeking $1.82 billion wildfire mitigation program expansion

Xcel Energy is proposing a $1.85 billion program to continue and expand its wildfire mitigation program through 2027.

It will ultimately cost the average residential customer about $8.88 per month by January 1, 2025. The bill increases will be incremental based on the progress Xcel makes with the program, and the amounts will change as part of the company’s quarterly cost adjustment filings with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, according to Robert Kenney, president of Xcel Energy Colorado.

The plan includes investments for greater situational awareness, system resiliency, equipment repair and replacement, system hardening, and operational mitigations including tripling the size of its artificial intelligence camera system that rapidly detects smoke plumes so emergency responders can get there more quickly.

“Our 2025 to 2027 Colorado wildfire mitigation plan that we filed on June 27th is first and foremost our plan to protect the public safety from the risks associated with wildfire ignitions,” Kenney told The Denver Gazette.

Kenney said the company is making significant investments in system resiliency, including repairing and replacement of equipment that might be associated with high-wildfire risk. The program calls for system hardening such as replacing small conductors with larger conductors, and in some cases undergrounding power lines, particularly in high-risk areas. Kenney also said they will be installing insulated conductors to help prevent arcing and sparks in some areas.

The plan includes installing sectionalizing devices to create smaller sectors of the grid that might need to be shut down as part of Xcel’s public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) protocols, as well as more devices to prevent downed lines from reenergizing automatically during emergencies.

"Our goal in adding sectionalizing devices will allow us to make a PSPS event, for instance, smaller and shorter,” said Kenney.

Both automatic reconnect blockers and sectionalizing still require physical inspection of depowered lines to ensure safety, but Kenney said sectionalizing will reduce the number of lines that need to be inspected before reconnection.

The company is attempting to identify customers with special medical equipment that requires constant power to help in getting them uninterruptible power supplies to carry them through a potential power outage.

“What we've just recently undertaken is a proactive outreach to all of our customers to remind them of this program and to tell them, we can only know if they're on durable medical equipment if they tell us,” Kenney said.

The program is not a response to the Marshall fire that devastated the towns of Superior and Louisville in December 2021.

“No, it was not. The Marshall fire wasn't started by our equipment, so I always want to make that very, very clear,” said Kenney. “We filed our first plan back in 2020 and it covered a period of 2021 to 2023. So, this plan is intended to cover 2025 to 2027.”

Xcel is facing potentially hundreds of lawsuits from people who lost their homes and businesses in the fire that destroyed more than 1,100 homes and businesses. A report on the fire by the Boulder County Sheriff and the 20th Judicial District Attorney said: “Through videos obtained by detectives from community members, investigators confirmed that a second fire ignited just south of the Marshall Mesa Trailhead roughly one hour after the Eldorado Springs Fire ignited. Ultimately, investigators and experts concluded that the most probable cause of this ignition was hot particles discharged from Xcel Energy powerlines.”

Kenney said the company is taking advantage of technology changes that enhance its ability to monitor weather conditions in a more granular fashion and using high-tech artificial intelligence cameras to quickly detect fires before they spread.

“What we're seeing is the risk associated with wildfire has evolved, driven in large part by climate-driven drier conditions and climate change generally, making wildfire risk different than it was when we filed our previous plan,” said Kenney. “Technological advancements have come into existence, and so we're taking advantage of that new equipment and new technological advancements, particularly with respect to the weather stations and cameras that we're deploying.”

Xcel has completed deployment of 28 camera systems made by Pano AI. Xcel funded the initial deployment for about $50,000 per installation and they cover more than 1.5 million acres in Colorado.

The Pano Rapid Detect system uses ultra-high-definition cameras that continuously scan 360 degrees to create a full video panorama, according to the company. An artificial intelligence algorithm constantly monitors the scans to detect and triangulate smoke.

Xcel intends to triple the number of AI camera systems as part of this program, he said. It's also installing hundreds of remote weather stations that communicate with Xcel in real time and provides “more and more granular data on temperature, humidity, wind speed, and moisture levels.”

Other features of the proposal include:

• Technology-enabled infrastructure inspections: updating the schedule for pole and equipment inspections in wildfire risk zones, using inspections to create 3D maps of equipment and terrain in high-threat areas.

• Infrastructure improvements: multi-year program to identify and replace or upgrade equipment, underground targeted power lines, replace and repair poles, and rebuild transmission lines in high-risk areas.

• Expanded and risk-informed vegetation management: accelerating and expanding efforts in high-risk areas, and setting new standards for inspections, clearance, and pruning frequency.

• Expanded use of enhanced powerline safety settings (also known as Wildfire Safety Settings): increasing the number of feeders that can be set to safety settings remotely, sectionalizing lines in order to impact fewer customers, and adding equipment in high-risk areas and new technology to improve the program.

The program has been submitted to the Public Utilities Commission, but no schedule has been set for consideration.

“We're asking for the commission to allow us to make rate adjustments twice a year, while also allowing the commission the opportunity to review work against our plan,” said Kenney. “And so the commission would have an opportunity to make sure that we're performing against our plan, and it would allow us to be able to make those twice yearly rate adjustments to recover those costs.”