by North Forty News Staff | NorthFortyNews.com
More than 14,000 Xcel Energy customers and over 2,000 PVREA members affected Thursday
Strong winds sweeping across the Front Range on Thursday caused widespread power outages across Northern Colorado, leaving thousands of residents without electricity in Larimer and Weld counties.
According to the Xcel Energy outage map, an estimated 14,000 customers in Larimer and Weld counties were without power at the height of the wind event, as gusts damaged power lines and other electrical infrastructure.
Rural electric cooperative Poudre Valley REA also reported outages across its service territory, with about 2,012 members without electricity Thursday as crews responded to wind-related outages.
Several Northern Colorado areas experienced service interruptions throughout the day:
In Wellington, outages affected roughly 1,500 members before a partial restoration restored power to about 750 by early afternoon.
In west Fort Collins near Horsetooth Reservoir and County Road 38E, a damaged power pole disrupted service to approximately 300 members.
Outages also affected Bellvue, Stove Prairie, Rist Canyon, and Colorado Highway 14, where the number of impacted members briefly climbed to around 700 before crews began restoring service.
Additional outages were reported in Lyons, Carr, Pingree Park, and northern Boulder County, with repair crews dispatched across the region.
Officials say restoration work during high-wind events can take longer because crews must wait for conditions to be safe before repairing lines and equipment.
Residents are urged to stay away from downed power lines, report outages to their local utility provider, and treat intersections with non-functioning traffic signals as four-way stops.
At the time of publication, Platte River Power Authority reported no outages affecting its generation or transmission system.
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Source: Poudre Valley REA outage updates and Xcel Energy outage map.