Xcel Energy shuts off power to thousands in Colorado amid dangerous winds [Video]

DENVER — An estimated 55,000 Xcel Energy customers in Colorado had their power purposely turned off Saturday over wildfire concerns amid dangerous winds.

The company announced Saturday it would proceed with the public safety power shutoffs after warning customers on Friday of possible power disruptions.

Xcel Energy de-energized power lines at 3 p.m. Saturday. The planned outage will continue into at least Sunday, but exact outage restoration times will be contingent upon the extent of damages caused by the extreme winds.

The communities that are experiencing a power shutoff are primarily in Boulder County, small sections of Gilpin, Jefferson, Larimer, Douglas and Broomfield Counties, and the West Denver Metro area along the foothills, the company said in a news release.

Robert Kenney, president of Xcel Energy Colorado, said the company reached out to customers on Friday about Saturday’s public safety outage.

“We’ve made every effort to do outbound calls to the customers in those six counties. So last night, we …