DENVER — Thousands of Xcel Energy customers are waking up without restored power after Wednesday's windstorm knocked down power poles and pushed trees to lean on, or take down, the wires.
As of 11 a.m., 389 outages were affecting 7,415 customers across the metro area, according to Xcel Energy's outage map. Across Colorado, 410 outages are affecting 9,589 Xcel customers.
Since the storm hit Colorado about 112,000 customers lost power and had it restored, according to Xcel. Its crews worked through the night to continue to restore electricity to homes.
The company said it had prepared for drastic impacts from the storm, and increased staffing levels to include 450 crews and contractors working throughout Wednesday on the outages.
Restoration crews have replaced about 60 power poles and more than 7,600 feet of power lines, Xcel said.
Xcel Energy is reminding residents to never touch or move a downed power line.
To report an outage, use the company's mobile app, visit its website at xcelenergy.com/out, text "OUT" to 98936 to report an outage or text "STAT" to the same number to check the status of a power outage, or call 1-800-895-1999.
Major power outages are also affecting residents in Costilla County. Residents were told to prepare for a long-term — possibly days-long — power outage following Wednesday's strong windstorm.