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WINDSOR, Colo. — Numerous power outages have residents in The Ridge at Harmony Road subdivision questioning the electrical system's reliability.
Xcel Energy says the heat wave and recent storms have taxed the system.
"It's just been really frustrating," Sheryl House said. "My husband works from home. The power went out about 3:30 [Wednesday] and was off until 10 the next morning, so he had to leave and go to a different location to be able to work."
House said they rarely had power problems when they lived in Fort Collins.
"Here, we've had intermittent ones where the power is out for two or three hours and it's back on. But in the winter, we actually had one where it was one of the coldest nights we've had in northern Colorado, and we lost power for 24 hours."
Diane Bainer says most residents understand that winter storms and ice storms can knock power lines down, but when they contacted Xcel about this week's outages, customer service left a lot to be desired.
"We have emailed Xcel twice," she said. "I've gotten nothing. I've tried calling their customer service, have got nothing."
She said one neighbor asked for credit on their bill and was told Xcel doesn't give credit.
Bainer said they "kind of laughed about it" when the power went out for about four hours on Sunday.
"Monday was a couple hours. We kind of laughed about it, too," she said. "Now, it's been about five out of six days that we have lost some kind of electricity."
Bainer said the inside of their house was 83 degrees Wednesday night, but they have a finished basement, so they were able to stay somewhat cool.
"We can't cook, so dinners are cold sandwiches, or we go out to eat a lot," she said.
Bainer said her husband is a printer who works at home.
"We lose money when my husband can't work," she said. "I worry about my food in the freezer and the refrigerator — meat's getting expensive — so, it's affecting families."
I've heard of people having to throw out pounds and pounds of breast milk," homeowner Kimberly Corban said.
"We've got four kiddos and two dogs at home," she said. "We were aware of the heat and were told to turn the thermostats up, and then the power started going out, and it stayed out. We had outage after outage without information, without any real cause."
When asked what she thinks is causing the power outage, Corban replied, "I think there's a huge infrastructure issue. I think it is shameful that we weren't aware of this when they started building houses here and selling them to everyone."
Denver7 reached out to Xcel Energy and received this emailed reply:
"Our crews worked throughout the week to investigate the cause of the outages while also working as quickly and safely as possible to restore power.
We believe the cause, due in part to equipment failure due to the high heat and storms, was identified and repaired. We understand the inconvenience and frustration our customers feel and reassure them our crews do everything they can to resolve power outage issues. We appreciate our customers’ patience and encourage them to contact Xcel Energy to report an outage or visit: Xcel Energy's website."
Corban said, so far, the power has remained on Friday evening, but she has bags packed "in case we need to send the kids somewhere else for the night."
