Colorado foothills community tackles resident power concerns with renewable energy experts

Following recent wind events and power outages, the City of Golden hosted a community conversation offering possible options for continued power sources like renewable energy on Tuesday. In what city employees say is one of their largest turnouts ever for a community conversation, about 200 people showed up to hear from the city's panel of outside battery and renewable energy experts. 

The strong wind events and resulting planned (and unplanned) power outages left many in Colorado in the dark, including people in Golden like Andy Logan. "We had two full days where the power was out. Wasn't expecting either of them to last as long as they did," Logan said, "The biggest issue for us, really, was the freezers."

Concerns about future outages are one of the main reasons Logan and so many others told CBS Colorado they showed up to Golden's meeting on Tuesday. "I'm seriously considering putting in a battery backup," Logan said, "And to be honest, I'm a little frustrated with Xcel right now."

The panel worked to address those concerns alongside local renewable energy companies that tabled at the event and discussed costs and installations. Some of the offerings included information on how to add solar to a home or additional backup battery options. Joe Burdick sells solar panel systems as the president of Burdick Technologies Unlimited. 

"I'd say, the last three to five years, a lot of growth in battery storage, not just because of the recent power outages, but also because of just a lot of recent interest in having backup power when the power goes out," Burdick said.

After December's planned outages, the City of Golden also wrote a letter to Xcel Energy to address that process, but Mayor Laura Weinberg says she also wants residents to be prepared for any future weather events.

"This is really taking that longer-term, systemic view of-- if this is part of our reality, what do we do? So it's not just in the moment, but 'how do I set myself up to be secure in my home?'" Weinberg said.

The city also shared on Tuesday that the city council will consider new rebates for battery storage later this month.

"No matter what happens in the future, here are ways, and here are tools, and here's some financial incentive so that you can make changes within your own home," Weinberg said.