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By Anna Skinner
Associate News Editor
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Hundreds of thousands of people are facing possible Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) on Wednesday as weather conditions ideal for wildfires hit parts of Colorado.
On Monday night, Xcel Energy Colorado announced that it was "preparing for a strong wind event in Colorado and may need to conduct a targeted Public Safety Power Shutoff along the Front Range as a public safety measure to reduce wildfire risk on Dec. 17 beginning at 12 noon."
Xcel Energy is Colorado's largest energy supplier.
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A Public Safety Power Shutoff Watch is now in place for hundreds of thousands of Colorado residents in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson, Larimer and Weld counties.
Newsweek reached out to Xcel Energy by email for comment.
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Be Prepared For The Worst
The Boulder Office of Disaster Management shared the announcement from Xcel Energy and included a list of preparedness steps people in the impacted areas should take.
"Xcel Energy has notified Boulder County of a potential Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) due to increased fire danger that could impact a large portion of Boulder County beginning on Wednesday, December 17th at noon," Boulder Office of Disaster Management posted on X.
"Prepare now: Charge phones, medical devices, and backup batteries. Plan for food, water, medications, and pet needs. Sign up to receive emergency alerts at: http://bocoalert.org or download the Reachwell app to receive information in over 100 languages. Stay informed and be prepared by monitoring Xcel Energy notifications, or notifications from your local energy provider, and by visiting http://BoulderODM.gov. A little preparation goes a long way in keeping you and your family safe."
Red Flag Warnings Issued
The announcement comes as National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologists issued a red flag warning for central and southeastern Colorado on Tuesday, warning of strong winds and low relative humidity, which can heighten the risk of wildfires sparking and spreading quickly.
The red flag warnings said that winds could gust up to 45 mph and relative humidity was as low as 12 percent in some areas.
"A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now....or will shortly," NWS Denver said in the red flag warning. "A combination of strong winds...low relative humidity...and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior."
Several cities are under a Public Safety Power Shutoff Watch, in which Xcel Energy said: "Outages are possible as Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings may be in use. Customers will be notified if a proactive Public Safety Power Shutoff becomes necessary."
On its website, Xcel Energy explained that usually customers receive notice four hours before their power is shutoff, but in emergency cases, advanced notice isn't always possible.
"If a PSPS is needed or there are other weather-related outages across our system, power restoration efforts will begin after high winds and elevated fire risks have ended," the website said. "It may take several hours to several days for customers’ power to be restored because a crew must patrol the entire power line to ensure it’s safe before it can be re-energized."
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