Infrastructure Blitz: Boulder Chamber and Downtown Boulder Partnership submit comments to the PUC regarding the Xcel PSPS

Colorado Public Utilities Commission
1560 Broadway, Suite 250
Denver, CO 80202

RE: Proceeding No. 26M-0037E – Pre-rulemaking Regarding Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) Procedures

Chairman Blank and Commissioners Gilman and Plant:

On behalf of the Boulder Chamber and the Downtown Boulder Partnership, representing over 1,300 member businesses, we appreciate the opportunity to provide formal comments on the recent Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) events.

While we recognize that wildfire mitigation is a critical safety priority, the execution of the December 2025 PSPS event revealed systemic missteps that have left our business community reeling. Whether planned or unplanned, power outages of this nature have devastating impacts on our local economy. We are calling for an immediate “Infrastructure Investment Blitz” and a robust framework for business resiliency, reimbursement, and operational integration across agencies and utilities.

Public safety best be achieved accurate, accessible, and actionable communication to the full community—not only those already enrolled on utility or municipal notification lists.

I. The Economic Scale of Impact

The “pain felt” by our businesses is not anecdotal; it is quantified. A Boulder Chamber cross-industry survey of nearly 300 local employers found:

• 86% of businesses experienced a total business interruption.
• The average financial loss per business was $25,000.
• 9 respondents reported losses exceeding $100,000 in a single weekend.
• 20,000 workers were impacted, with half unable to work or receive pay during the outage.

We encourage you to read our results and the summary here.

These losses hit retail, restaurants, manufacturing, and tech sectors during the critical pre-holiday surge. Small businesses, like one local coffee shop that lost $15,000 and 100% of its weekend sales, are still scrambling to recover today.

II. Call for an Infrastructure Investment Blitz

We cannot simply accept these outages as the “new normal.” We urge the Commission to authorize an aggressive infrastructure investment strategy to harden the grid against the roaring winds and dry conditions of our changing climate.

• Financing for Hardening: We ask the PUC to provide Xcel Energy with the tools and incentives to immediately invest in the workforce and materials required for undergrounding lines and installing stronger poles in high-risk corridors.
• Mitigation vs. Cleanup: We must move from a posture of “cleaning up damage” to “preventing calamity.” Infrastructure is the only long-term solution to make PSPS events truly infrequent.

III. Communication Gaps, Operational Integration, and Resiliency Protocols

Xcel Energy’s communication remains hampered by overly broad maps, limited real-time data, and insufficient coordination across agencies. The PSPS process must be operationally integrated and streamlined so customers receive consistent, timely, and accurate information from all relevant entities.

To address this, we propose:

• A “Stakeholder Table”: Establish a formal protocol involving the City of Boulder, the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), Xcel Energy, and the Boulder Chamber to ensure businesses, landlords, and employers have a seat at the table during decision-making and active PSPS events.
• Tenant and Occupant Notifications:
  Notification protocols shoulder extend beyond the named account holder. Tenants, commercial occupants, and secondary entities—when authorized by the property owner—should be eligible to receive shutoff notifications directly. Many businesses were unaware of outages because they were not the utility account holder.
• Searchable, Address-Specific Mapping: Property owners and tenants need up-to-date, address-level information to make critical operational decisions—not generalized polygons that obscure real impacts.
• Accessible Public Communications:
  The Commission should require communications that are accessible to the general public, including businesses and residents not enrolled on Xcel Energy or City of Boulder notification lists. Critical PSPS information must be easy to find, widely distributed, and consistent across platforms.
• Short-Term Bridging Solutions: We urge the PUC to explore the deployment of refrigerated truck convoys, alternative mobile office sites, and subsidized backup battery storage for small businesses. We should also look to California’s model of investing in microgrids to maintain continuity during main system outages.

IV. Reimagining Reimbursement and Insurance

The current “denial-by-default” stance on claims is unacceptable for planned de-energization events.

• Customer Credits: We ask the PUC to consider automatic credits for impacted customers, similar to the customer satisfaction credits used by other major utilities.
• DOI Collaboration: We urge the Commission to work with the Colorado Department of Insurance (DOI) to develop affordable business continuity insurance solutions that specifically cover PSPS events.
• Funding Guidance: The Commission must provide Xcel Energy with specific criteria and financing authorization for reimbursement expenses to provide a clear path to recovery for those who suffered major losses.

Conclusion

Public safety must not be a trade-off for power reliability or economic stability. By focusing on infrastructure investment, operational integration, accurate and accessible communication, and fair recovery mechanisms, this Commission can ensure that “public safety” includes the economic safety of the businesses that power our community.

Sincerely,

John Tayer
President & CEO
Boulder Chamber of Commerce

Tami Door
Interim CEO
Downtown Boulder Partnership