On Wednesday morning, homes, businesses and street lights suddenly went out in Frisco after power went out in most parts of the city and the surrounding region.
An Xcel Energy representative said customers in Breckenridge, Dillon, Copper Mountain and Red Cliff were also affected.
The outage was the result of two power outages, said utility spokesman Tyler Bryant. The first lasted from about 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and affected about 5,000 customers. A second followed, leaving about 1,500 of those customers without power in Frisco.
The second outage was still ongoing Wednesday afternoon, and as of 1 p.m., more than 450 customers in the area were still without power, according to data.
Bryant said emergency crews patrolled the lines but were unable to determine the cause of the outages.
The area has had a history of power outages in recent months, said Frisco communications manager Vanessa Agee. At 10:30 a.m., the city’s city hall still had no power, she said. Agee said she used the time of the outage to clean up her desk. Since much of her work depends on internet access, she didn’t have much else to do.
“When something like this happens, it’s amazing how much you realize that you rely on technology in virtually every aspect of your professional and personal life,” Agee said.
Bryant said the utility is working on a solution to the increase in power outages and on short- and long-term solutions.
“This includes adjustments to the system, a focus on equipment, repairs and upgrades,” he said.
The blackout disrupted a long list of routine government services, including building permits, she said. Businesses also couldn’t accept credit cards or answer landline phones, which are now often powered by the internet.
“We know that residents are certainly not able to get to their computers and do their work from home,” Agee said.
Agee said the city hopes to work with Xcel Energy to find solutions to the outages, but in the meantime, she is pleased with how resilient her community has been in dealing with these power issues.
As she drove to work on Wednesday, she passed an intersection where all the traffic lights were out. Instead of causing chaos, she saw drivers patiently taking turns.
“Incredible behavior from our residents and visitors,” said Agee.
