DENVER (Jan. 2, 2022) – Crews continue making repairs and restoring natural gas service to customers in the Superior and Louisville area, including portions of Boulder and Broomfield. As of this morning, service has been restored to about 1,200 customers. Updates are available below on the status of the work in the nine regions of the restoration work. In the areas hardest hit by the wildfire, crews continue to assess the significant damage to the natural gas infrastructure. With the latest information on the damage in those areas, we expect that most customers who are able to receive service will have service restored by the end of the day Tuesday.

“Thank you to our customers for your patience and understanding in this very challenging, heartbreaking situation for the entire community,” said Alice Jackson, president of Xcel Energy—Colorado. “After the most devastating wildfires in Colorado’s history, our crews and partners are working around the clock to get the lights back on and the natural gas flowing, and significant progress is being made. We know that the effects of these fires will last for months and years to come, and we are here to help the community recover and rebuild as those efforts move forward.”

Updates on repairs in each region

As crews work to restore service to the approximately 13,000 customers whose service was turned off due to the fires, the repair and restoration work has been divided into nine regions, with work progressing in each region. A map of the regions is available here. Because damage to the system varies by area, some regions will be restored earlier than others over the next few days.

Customers do not need to call Xcel Energy to schedule relights of pilot lights on their appliances. Once repairs are complete in a region and service is restored, crews go from door to door to relight pilot lights, after confirming that the customer’s natural gas meter is working properly. Someone 18 years old or older will need to be home for crews to do the relights. If customers are not at home, we will leave a door tag asking them to call for a relight. Crews will knock on doors to do relights between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.

As work progresses, customers can find updates on xcelenergy.com or on the company’s Facebook page. Updates for each region as of Sunday morning are:

  • Region 1 – Damage assessments and work are in progress; an update will be shared later today
  • Region 2 – Damage assessments and work are in progress; an update will be shared later today
  • Region 3 – Damage assessments and work are in progress; an update will be shared later today
  • Region 4 – Damage assessments and work are in progress; an update will be shared later today
  • Region 5 – Service is restored and crews have visited all properties to re-light appliances. Customers who were not home to have relights completed received a door tag with information on how to get their relight completed.
  • Region 6 – Service is restored and customers’ pilot lights have been re-lit
  • Region 7 – Service is restored and crews have visited all properties to re-light appliances. Customers who were not home to have relights completed received a door tag with information on how to get their relight completed.
  • Region 8 – Service is restored and customers’ pilot lights have been re-lit
  • Region 9 – Repairs are complete. The area is under an evacuation order, so once that order is lifted, crews will begin going door to door to relight pilot lights on customers’ appliances.

Public safety officials requested that natural gas service be turned off Thursday to minimize safety concerns related to the wildfires, as part of evacuation orders. Residents should also note that a number of roads are still closed in the area. Please view the Boulder Emergency Operations Center map for the latest on evacuation orders and road closures.

Electric heater distribution to pause temporarily this afternoon

So far, the company has provided nearly 18,000 electric heaters to customers who are without natural gas service. As additional supplies of electric heaters are on the way, there will be a temporary pause in the distribution of heaters this afternoon. Heaters will not be available for pickup between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. today. After that time, customers can resume picking up heaters at two locations: the Red Cross shelter at the YMCA in Lafayette at 2800 Dagny Way or the Superior Community Center at 1500 Coalton Rd. Pickup hours will be extended until 9 p.m. tonight.

Electric outage restoration in the Boulder area

Crews have also been working around the clock to restore electric service to customers affected by the fires and windstorm. Inside the areas affected by the fire, about 1,000 customers are without power, and the company is working directly with customers on next steps, as many structures may not be able to accept power at this time. Outside the fire zone, about 600 customers who lost service in the past few days are still without service, and we expect them to be restored today. Those outages are in areas with rugged terrain, which makes restoration more challenging, especially given weather conditions.

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About Xcel Energy

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) provides the energy that powers millions of homes and businesses across eight Western and Midwestern states. Headquartered in Minneapolis, the company is an industry leader in responsibly reducing carbon emissions and producing and delivering clean energy solutions from a variety of renewable sources at competitive prices. For more information, visit xcelenergy.com or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.