About 50,000 lose power across Denver area as winds hammer Front Range

An estimated 50,000 lost power at some point on Christmas Day in the Denver area as winds hammered the Front Range. Gusts, stemming from a winter storm that left snow throughout the high country, reached 80 mph in some spots.

Xcel Energy indicated outages — some affecting thousands — were in and around the city, although clustered mainly west of Interstate 25. By about 9:30 p.m., some 13,000 were still without electricity.

“We’re on it. Trying to get to it as quickly as possible,” said Mark Stutz, a spokesman for the utility. “The bulk of the outages have been from branches and trees in our lines, or broken branches and trees. There have been some poles and/or wires down as well.”

Reports are that the winds should subside after 8 p.m., he said. In the meantime, Xcel has intensified operations to get outages fixed. More than double the normal number of crews are out working on homes and the utility is planning to seek help from neighboring power providers.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/2016/12/25/denver-area-residents-without-power/