Local power outage blamed on snowfall

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado – A power outage hit New Castle and Glenwood Springs at 6:15 a.m. Thursday, lasting from 15 to 85 minutes in different parts of the towns.

The outage started in the 100 block of Castle Valley Boulevard in New Castle, where snow caused the Xcel Energy electrical system to trip, said Gabriel Romero, spokesman for Xcel.

“It created an arc, and the system shuts itself down at that point,” Romero said.

The outage quickly spread east, also affecting the entire Glenwood Springs Electric system, said Doug Hazzard, superintendent of the city electric utility.

Xcel crews were able to reach the faulty location and change out the equipment within minutes, Romero said.

“In this case, it was a pretty simple fix,” Romero said.

Hazzard said in Glenwood Springs, South Glenwood was back on line first, followed by West Glenwood. The downtown and north Glenwood areas were the last to come up, at about 7:30 a.m.

“We’re at the mercy of Xcel,” Hazzard said. “Overall, it came on pretty quick considering it was that time of the morning.”