Backup Power for Colorado: Wildfire Shutoffs, Snow and the Front Range

In April 2024 Xcel Energy did something new for Colorado: it turned the power off on purpose. High wind, dry grass, and the memory of the Marshall Fire meant tens of thousands of Front Range customers lost power for a day or more — not because of a fault, but to prevent one. verify

Colorado now has the California problem, on top of the problems it already had.

Why Colorado is its own problem

Wildfire shutoffs are new and they will continue. The Marshall Fire in December 2021 destroyed over a thousand homes in Boulder County in a matter of hours, driven by wind. verify Xcel's response is pre-emptive shutoffs when conditions look similar. They are announced in advance, they happen in dry windy weather, and they can run a day or longer.

Spring snow. The heavy wet snowstorms of March and April break branches onto lines across Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins and the foothills. Those are cold, grey, multi-day outages.

Mountain communities on long lines. Everything above the Front Range — Evergreen, Conifer, Estes Park, the ski towns — sits at the end of long distribution lines through forest. Wind, snow and fire all reach them first and crews reach them last.

Sun. The good news. Colorado has some of the best solar conditions in the country, and altitude makes it better. A folding panel that struggles in Seattle works beautifully here.

Wildfire shutoffs: the outage you can see coming

This is the part that changes the plan. A shutoff is announced. You get a day or two of warning based on the wind forecast.

That means:

Charge everything to 100% before it starts. The battery, the phones, the laptops. A unit at 40% is a wasted purchase.

Fill the freezer with water jugs. Mass holds cold, and a full freezer buys a day before you spend a watt-hour.

Top up the car. Gas pumps need grid power, and the shutoff area may include the stations.

Unfold the panels the first morning. A shutoff happens in dry, sunny, windy weather by definition. Colorado sun refills a mid-size battery in a day. This is the one outage type where panels are close to a complete answer.

Spring snow: the furnace blower

The March snowstorm outage is a different animal — cold, grey, and no warning. Most Front Range houses heat with gas, so the winter setup is the same one that works across the Midwest: power the furnace blower through a transfer switch and the whole house stays warm on a modest battery. The details.

Under snow-storm sky the panels are useless. The car is the recharge.

The mountains

If you live above the Front Range, everything above applies with longer timelines. Outages last longer, crews arrive later, and roads may be closed. Size up a tier, and treat panels as essential rather than optional — the sun is even stronger up there.

Well water is common in the mountains, and a well pump changes the budget entirely.

What we'd buy, by situation

Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins — Front Range, gas heat

A 1,000Wh unit, 400W of panels, and a transfer switch. The EcoFlow DELTA 2 with two PV200s. The panels cover the wildfire shutoff; the transfer switch covers the March snow.

Foothills and mountain communities

2,000Wh class plus panels. The Bluetti AC200L. Longer outages and stronger sun both argue for more capacity and more panel.

On a well, or with medical equipment

The DELTA Pro 3 conversation, with a transfer switch and a standby generator quote alongside. Mountain wells and multi-day outages need more than a portable unit gives.

What not to buy in Colorado

A battery with no panels. In a state with this much sun, it is leaving the best recharge on the table.

A generator as the wildfire-shutoff answer. A gas generator running in the exact wind conditions that triggered the shutoff is an ignition risk. Batteries produce no spark and no exhaust.

Storage in an unheated garage or shed. Colorado nights are cold and lithium does not charge below freezing. Keep it indoors.

The free things, which matter most

Update your Xcel contact details so shutoff alerts reach you.

Create defensible space. A battery does nothing about the fire itself. Clearing brush from the house is the actual wildfire preparation.

Know two ways out of a mountain community. Wind-driven fire moves faster than a car in a traffic jam. The Marshall Fire proved it.