Update: January 4
As of Wednesday, Xcel Energy had restored gas service to 10,000 of the original 13,000 customers who lost service last Thursday. The company continues to hand out space heaters for those who need them at the YMCA in Lafayette. Below is our original article.
On Monday, Xcel Energy Colorado President Alice Jackson updated reporters on recovery efforts and said 400 people are still without electricity inside the burn zone, an improvement from the 100,000 customers affected in last week's Boulder Fires. The company anticipates it will complete restoring electric power, where possible, by the end of Thursday.
Jackson said that 8,000 people are still without gas, but that Xcel has completed the first two steps necessary for restoring gas – manually cutting off meters and gas, and re-pressurizing the gas system to make sure the infrastructure is sound. The third step is going door-to-door to reignite pilot lights. The company’s technicians are knocking on doors from 7a.m. to 10 p.m.
“If you’re not home … we’ll leave you a door hanger with instructions to contact us in order for us to be able to send a crew back to you,” Jackson said.
Xcel said it has given out 20,000 portable heaters to customers without access to gas or electricity. And more are available.
Separately, Comcast said service is restored to 40 percent of its customers affected by the fires, and most people will have service back today or tomorrow.
