Lineworkers Spent Days Clearing Lines Following Storms on Dec. 17 & 19
United Power members experienced Colorado’s ferocious weather in December when strong windstorms struck the northern Front Range twice in one week. Members who live in the cooperative’s mountain territory received the brunt of the storms, with gusts reaching more than 110 miles per hour near the foothills, according to data from the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder.
Weather forecasting provided advance notice about the potential for heavy and sustained winds and, due to an exceedingly dry season, prompted the National Weather Service to issue its first-ever “Particularly Dangerous Situation” Red Flag Warning (for extremely critical fire weather conditions) for the state of Colorado. Xcel Energy, a transmission provider to parts of United Power’s system, responded by preemptively scheduling public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) in the foothills between Golden and Boulder.
Although United Power did not initiate any power shutoffs and was not impacted by Xcel’s PSPS, both utilities activated system-wide wildfire safety measures. This included placing any power lines in the immediate area into Wildfire Safety Mode, which is a setting that stops the flow of power whenever a fault is detected and prevents automated devices from attempting re-energization. A manual inspection is required to ensure the line is clear of debris and the infrastructure is not damaged before power restoration can begin. Shortly after winds peaked, United Power lost transmission from the Xcel line that delivers power to the cooperative’s members in the Coal Creek and Golden Gate canyons. It was the first in a series of events that launched line crews into a dayslong effort to clear debris from miles of line and restore power to thousands of families.
“Heavy wind is an enemy to even the most resilient power grids because it forces us to circumvent all our built-in automation and system redundancies for the safety of our members,” said Adam Dillon, United Power’s Vice President of Operations. “And it prolongs outage recovery because we cannot restore power without visually inspecting every mile of line, much of which needed to be cleared of debris from the storms.”
Aftermath of the Storms
As the sun faded on Dec. 17, and the first round of storms had passed through the area, all members in the mountain territory were without power and the extent of the damage was unknown. The lack of visibility without light made assessments difficult and unsafe to conduct, forcing crews to wait until first light to begin working on power restoration. Upon inspection, lineworkers found downed trees and power lines, broken poles, and a variety of other damage.
Once the transmission line providing power to the mountains was re-energized, it finally gave United Power the opportunity to test parts of its system that had been cleared and attempt to restore power to some members. Working slowly, feeder by feeder, crews were eventually able to restore power to nearly every member in the mountain territory. However, a second round of windstorms was now on deck.
“It is backbreaking work to spend all that time clearing debris and restoring power while knowing you will probably have to do it all over again in another 24 hours,” said Dillon. “It takes a certain mindset to do what lineworkers do day in and day out, with a lot of dedication and determination, especially in adverse and unpredictable conditions.”
Heavy winds arrived earlier than expected for the second storm, hitting the co-op overnight on Dec. 19 and causing outages to roll in quickly. Before the sun had a chance to rise, all members were once again without power. The prior day’s efforts erased in just a couple hours.
Troubleshooters were dispatched, but little could be done as conditions deteriorated into the morning and early afternoon. Relentless winds toppled trees and blew debris into power lines. Until there was a break, the situation was too dangerous — and too uncertain — to conduct restoration attempts.
Slowly and methodically, as the wind broke and crews were able to assess damage to the system, the cooperative began a painstaking weekend of clearing debris, making repairs to infrastructure, testing the system, and, finally, restoring power.
“Our lineworkers are diligent and gritty. They work hard to keep the lights on,” said Travis Rodlin, United Power’s Mountain Manager. “They were prepared for the circumstances of these storms and did not back down from the challenge.”
The weekend provided relief from winds and a fresh dusting of snow, allowing United Power to operate under standard system settings instead of Wildfire Safety Mode, which had been activated for much of the previous week. It did not, however, ease the burden of lineworkers who encountered a significant number of downed trees and power lines as they worked toward restoration. Approximately 1,000 members were without power throughout Saturday, and that number dropped to 125 by Sunday afternoon. A couple dozen remaining members were restored on Monday morning, finally ending the outage.
“As proud as I am of our lineworkers’ efforts, I am equally grateful to our members for their patience throughout the restoration process,” said Mark A. Gabriel, United Power President and CEO. “Many of our members were without power for several days. That would be difficult for anyone. Thank you for giving our lineworkers the grace to safely restore power.”
Learn more about United Power’s Wildfire Safety Mode and power safety updates.