A changing climate, drier weather, and more frequent severe weather events mean growing wildfire risk. At Xcel Energy, the highest priority is and always will be public safety, and the company has been working hard to confront this threat.
Since 2020, Xcel has invested over $500 million in wildfire mitigation, and it has made considerable progress. We have a clear goal: that no catastrophic wildfire in Colorado is ever started by Xcel Energy assets. But the risk is ever-changing and there is no shortcut to resiliency.
This week, Xcel submitted a 2025-2027 Colorado Wildfire Mitigation Plan to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, building upon our efforts to date. The 2025-2027 plan integrates industry experience, incorporates evolving risk assessment methodologies, adds new technology, and expands the scope, pace, and scale of our work.
The work proposed in our Wildfire Mitigation Plan will require substantial investment. While we anticipate that customer bills will increase if the CPUC approves the plan, we will continue to use every option available to get the best prices for customers and keep bills below the national average.
This includes reinvesting our profits in maintaining power transmission lines and infrastructure and pursuing federal grants under different programs. Our goal is to ensure customer bills in Colorado remain among the lowest in the nation as we undertake the critical work set forth in our plan.
We continue to propose complementary mitigation strategies — such as inspections, infrastructure improvements, vegetation management, enhanced powerline safety settings, and an improved Public Safety Power Shutoff program that reflects the feedback we received following the event earlier this year.
The plan also prioritizes ongoing engagement and outreach, recognizing that wildfire safety is a collaborative effort and that our customers want to hear from us, particularly in the case of a shutoff event – which we will initiate only as a last resort.
As set forth in the plan, we believe the investments are prudent, cost-effective, and in our customers’ best interest. The cost of not doing the work is, in our view, simply too high. Our customers, communities, and way of life are at risk.
Our plan is now with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, and there will be formal opportunities for the public to participate in the regulatory approval process over the next several months.
We look forward to working with the Commission and our communities as we continue this important wildfire mitigation work and appreciate the effort that will go into reviewing and evaluating this plan to protect our customers and communities. In the meantime, we encourage customers and communities to visit our website to learn more about our wildfire mitigation work.
We are committed to building the reliable and safe future Coloradans expect and deserve.
Robert S. Kenney is president of Xcel Energy’s Colorado Operating Company.
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Originally Published: June 28, 2024 at 11:39 a.m.
