Question: What causes an outage?

Answer:

Interruptions to electrical power can be caused by weather or non-weather related events.

Weather-related power outages can be caused by lighting strikes, extreme heat, ice, high winds, tornados, etc., damaging many power lines over a large area. Since weather-related outages can be widespread, repairs may be more complex and restoration may take from several hours to several days in extreme situations.

Non-weather related power outages can be caused by tree contact with power lines, equipment failure or damage by outside parties or animals, underground cable failures, or Xcel Energy-initiated outages needed to ensure public safety, restore services or maintain equipment.