Xcel threatens to shut off Highlands Ranch woman’s power unless she repairs crew’s mistake

DENVER — It is stress Sue Sanders is aware of she will’t afford following her latest coronary heart assault, however Xcel Power’s menace to shutoff energy at her Highlands Ranch house this week put her excessive.

Sanders reached out to Contact Denver7 for assist.

“I used to be determined. I did not know the place to show,” she mentioned.

It began Monday, when an Xcel subcontractor confirmed as much as her house to put in a wise meter, new know-how Xcel began putting in by the hundreds within the Denver metro a number of years again. The software basically measures energy utilization in real-time and costs residents based mostly on the time of day they use power.

Like many residents Denver7 has heard from, Sanders didn’t choose out of the good meter set up due to the extra related prices together with her present meter.

Set up sometimes take about quarter-hour, which is why Sanders says she checked on the subcontractor’s work when issues had been taking longer than anticipated.

“I checked on him as a result of he was right here for a half an hour. I mentioned, ‘Are you okay?’ That is when he handed me some wire and mentioned, ‘Effectively, I broke this and I known as my supervisor,’” Sanders mentioned.

An Xcel Power spokesperson confirmed with Denver7 that the subcontractor did the truth is injury the good meter, halting the challenge.

Sanders did not make a fuss out of it, till she obtained an Xcel discover the subsequent day that acknowledged if she did not right the difficulty “inside 15 days from the date of points, service will probably be disconnected.”

In a panic, Sanders known as a number of firms and was quoted hundreds of {dollars} in restore prices.

“$8,800, $5,300, $6,500 had been a number of the estimates,” Sanders mentioned. “It was greater than anybody ought to have been put via, however hopefully there will probably be an answer.”

Sanders says she reached out to Xcel a number of occasions, however did not hear again till Denver7 reached out.

In an announcement to Denver7 Friday, an Xcel spokesperson mentioned partly, “We labored straight with our contractor for a fast decision without charge to the shopper. The contractor is sending an authorized Xcel Power electrician as quickly as potential to make the required repairs.”

Sanders good meter will ultimately be put in. Her belief within the firm, nonetheless, will take a while to heal.

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