Colorado Winds to Cause ‘Dangerous’ Fire Weather
(Bloomberg) -- Colorado will face “particularly dangerous” fire weather on Friday, and utility Xcel Energy said it would shut off electricity to about 69,000 customers in order to reduce the risk of power lines potentially sparking wildfires.
The National Weather Service issued the unusual warning as the region braced for another round of fierce dry winds with gusts up to 105 miles (169 kilometers) per hour. Winds were expected to reach hurricane strength along parched foothills in the eastern part of the state.
“There will be a high potential for fast-moving wildfires, should any new starts occur,” the weather service said in an urgent message posted on its website.
With rising risk of wildfires and the financial liabilities they can heap on utilities that spark blazes, power companies are increasingly deciding to preemptively turn off their customers’ lights in order to limit fire risk and exposure to expensive damage claims.
About 105,000 customer were without power Friday morning, with the most outages in Jefferson and Boulder counties, according to PowerOutage.com.
Xcel also shut off power to about 50,000 homes and businesses on Wednesday for the same reason. Because turning power back on takes time, some customers who had their electricity cut both Wednesday and Friday could remain in the dark for more than three days, Xcel said.
(Updates with new information throughout.)
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