PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo. (KOAA) — Residents in Pueblo and Fremont Counties should prepare for a potential energy blackout on Wednesday as Black Hills Energy says they are monitoring high fire conditions.
In a news release on Wednesday, the utility provider said they declared an Emergency Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) Watch that will last through Wednesday or as long as high fire conditions persist.
The PSPS Watch will go into place on Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. For residents in the isolated parts of Pueblo and Fremont Counties, the company may shut off power to around 850 customers.
“We recognize that shutting off power, even to reduce wildfire risks, has broad impacts,” said Campbell Hawkins, Vice President of Colorado Utilities. “We will do our best to provide as much advance notice as possible if an emergency power shutoff is likely to occur, by issuing a PSPS Warning. If conditions suddenly become hazardous, power may need to be shut off with little or no notice.”
The utility company says customers can better prepare themselves and stay up to date on the outages by doing the following: Keeping an eye on the Black Hills Energy Outage Map
How you can prepare
- Keep your contact information up to date with Black Hills Energy so we can provide safety notifications and direct you to our website for helpful tips and resources. Visit blackhillsenergy.com/my-account.
- Have a backup plan for medicine that needs to be refrigerated or medical equipment that is powered by electricity. This could mean finding a place to go during an outage or having a backup generator.
- Build an emergency kit and plan and share with friends and neighbors.
- If you see downed powerlines, stay away and call 911.
How to stay informed
- For more information on an Emergency PSPS visit blackhillsenergy.com/psps [blackhillsenergy.com]
- Our Facebook page @BlackHillsEnergy
- We will also bring you the latest across the various KOAA5 platforms.
This is the second PSPS Watch that the utility provider has issued this February, as conditions have been prime for fires. On Monday, February 16, a multi-day watch was put into effect as fire dangers were great.
Covering Colorado
Black Hills Energy to possibly cut power to Colorado residents over fire risk
___
Colorado Springs man discovers business using his home address without permission
A Colorado Springs man is sharing his story after he discovered someone registered a business to his home address without his permission.
____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.