DENVER - Xcel Energy is reporting good progress in restoring natural
gas service to thousands of homes in Boulder County affected by an
outage that began Friday morning.
At 11 a.m. Saturday,
Xcel Energy has restored service to approximately 1,250 customers
affected by a natural gas outage near Niwot. The American Red Cross has
indicated that a warming center at Douglass Elementary will close at
noon, and those needing assistance should contact the Red Cross directly
at (303) 722-7474.
At 9:45 a.m., the number of
natural gas customers restored to service from the outage is
approximately 800 customers, of the original 7,200 customers who lost
service early Friday. As expected, daytime conditions are helping the
pace of restoration.
Xcel Energy estimates that its crews will be
able to restore service to approximately 400 homes and businesses per
hour, which would take the company into the early evening hours to
complete restoration to the majority of customers.
All customers
should know that someone has to be home, of at least 18 years or older,
to provide access for workers restoring service. Customers should call
Xcel Energy at 800 895-2999 for any questions.
9 A.M. Saturday update from Xcel Energy: We
were able to restore service to about 450 customers in Boulder County
overnight. More than 200 crew members are currently conducting relights
in the affected neighborhoods and we expect to have the majority of
these customers back in service by late afternoon today.
Excel
encourages anyone without heat to seek shelter elsewhere. Boulder County
has set up a shelter at Douglass Elementary School, located at 840 75th
Street in Boulder, which will allow pets. Before leaving home, it’s
important to turn on water faucets to a slow drip to help prevent frozen
water pipes and ensure the water is draining.
Despite the bitter
cold, 180 Xcel Energy men and women are making progress in restoring
service to customers in Niwot and other parts of Boulder County. Once
all natural gas meters are turned off, they will go door-to-door
beginning at approximately 11pm tonight to begin relighting customers’
natural gas appliances.
We are also calling customers to let them
know our crews will be in their neighborhoods. A person 18 years or
older must be home to allow our crews to enter and remain with them as
they finish their work. Please remember to leave a front porch light on
to indicate you are home and we can stop by to check your appliances and
restart your service.
We will have crews working throughout the
night while others are released so they can get some rest. Beginning
tomorrow morning we will have approximately 234 people on board to
complete relights. We expect most customers will have natural gas
service back tomorrow.
Please do not attempt to relight natural
gas appliances yourself. Not only can your appliances or equipment be
damaged by improper relights but you can place yourself and your family
in danger. Our employees will check your appliances and relight them for
you free of charge.
Xcel spokesman Mark Stutz said a major
natural gas regulator station near Niwot suffered an equipment failure
starting around 6 a.m. Friday. Reports of the outage started to roll in
about an hour later.
In order for the teams to get in and ignite
those pilot lights, the company requires a resident who is at least
18-years old be present. Xcel asked affected customers to call
800-895-4999 to provide a cell phone number that can be used while
coordinating these visits. "It’s going to take a lot because they
have to go door to door to light everybody's pilot light," said Clarence
Cook. "It's a big headache."
To supplement Colorado crews
working to restore natural gas service to customers Xcel Energy crews
from around the state, and from Minnesota and Wisconsin are being
brought in. The company has also contacted utilities in California and
New Mexico, and private companies. When all crews are fully in place,
Xcel anticipates they will have nearly 300 people supporting the
restoration effort.
Boulder County is setting up warming shelters
for affected residents and Xcel is encouraging customers to take
advantage of the offer after turning their faucets on a slow drip to
keep pipes from freezing.
The Red Cross set up a shelter at
Douglas Elementary, at 840 75th St. in Boulder. They told 7NEWS they
planned to keep the shelter open overnight Friday. Pets were allowed
with their owners at the shelter.
Boulder Valley School District's
Heatherwood Elementary was impacted by the gas outage. The 400-student
school at 7750 Concord Dr. reported an average interior temperature of
65 degrees and was moving students to interior classrooms.
The Celestial Seasonings factory and offices were also affected, but reported they were still open. At
McGuckin Hardware in Boulder, more than a thousand portable heaters
were sold on Friday. Extra units had to be trucked in after the shelves
quickly became empty.
Hilary Boslet is going back to the basics to stay warm, waiting for her gas service to be restored. "I'm so glad that I have a fire, fire place to stay warm,” she said. Boslet is trying to prevent her pipes from freezing.
"I have the heater on, I've got the water dripping in the kitchen and the bathroom."
Boulder
County's Office of Emergency Management recommended using a space
heater to keep critical water pipes warm during the gas outage, but also
shared this list of heater safety tips:
-Never place a space heater on top of furniture or near water.
-Use electric space heaters with automatic shut-off switches and non-glowing elements.
-Keep heat sources at least 3 feet away from furniture and drapes.
-Never leave children unattended near a space heater.
-Have the following safety equipment available:
-Chemical fire extinguisher
-Smoke alarm in working order (Check once a month and change batteries once a year.)
-Carbon monoxide detector
-Never
use an electric generator indoors, inside the garage, or near the air
intake of your home because of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning: Do
not use the generator or appliances if they are wet.
-Do not store gasoline indoors where the fumes could ignite.
Xcel
also had a power outage in east Denver Friday morning. About 2,600
customers lost power at 6:21 a.m. Xcel restored power at 11 a.m.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/xcel-energy-reports-gas-outage-from-boulder-to-niowt-power-outage-in-denver-aurora
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