To: Board of County Commissioners
Through: Tyler S. Brown, Sheriff
Prepared By:
prepared
Nathan Fogg, Director, Office of Emergency Management
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Subject:
title
EOP Annex, Power Plan for Public Safety Power Shutoff
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Purpose and Request:
recommended action
Request the Board of County Commissioners to include the newly developed annex for Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) into the recently adopted 2025 Emergency Operations Plan. This item was directed to go to consent at the Board’s meeting on July 28, 2025.
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Background and Discussion: In April 2024, Xcel Energy instituted the first PSPS in Colorado. The intent behind shutting electricity off before severe fire weather was to eliminate the risk of utility caused wildfire in a defined area. The execution left thousands of people without power, some for days. Xcel realized during, and afterwards, the communication to customers, critical infrastructure customers, and public safety organizations needed improvement. After months of work with the Colorado PUC, the North Central Homeland Security Region, and Arapahoe OEM, Xcel submitted several documents to the PUC for approval. Those plans were recently approved. Concurrent to that work, OEM developed this annex to EOP detailing philosophy, concepts of operations, and essential elements in each phase of a PSPS. The phases include preparedness, and response, and restoration, with more details on activities within each phase.
Fiscal Impact: None.
Alternatives: The BOCC could choose not to include the PSPS Annex into the EOP.
Alignment with Strategic Plan:
☐Be fiscally sustainable
☐Provide essential and mandated service
☒Be community focused
Staff Recommendation: OEM recommends including the annex into the EOP.
Concurrence: Sheriff’s Office, Xcel Energy, ACWWA, South Platte Renew all reviewed or provided input for the development of this annex.