UPDATE – 905 a.m., Aug 7 – The MPE system was returned to normal feeds Wednesday evening. The Outage Map (linked from the www.MPEI.com/Outage webpage) was updated this morning with current information. Since yesterday and overnight, it incorrectly showed areas of impact from the substation switching that occurred. The extensive power feed re-routing that was required to keep power on to as many members as possible confused the mapping system. Technicians resolved the mapping system issues by 9 a.m. this morning.
“Special thanks to MPE’s operations team and others throughout the co-op for their efforts,” said MPE CEO Virginia Harman. “Line crews and dispatch were up until midnight to keep our members and first responders safe and to restore our system to normal operations. As of around midnight, MPE completed re-energizing our substation and lines near the fire.”
MPE will continue to work with the sheriff’s office and fire response team today as necessary.
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UPDATE – 4:44 p.m., Aug. 6 – MPE continues to work closely with first responders and with our power transmission partners – Tri-State and WAPA – in response to the Windy Gap fire for public safety power shut offs.
As the fire approaches transmission lines, MPE is working on de-energizing specific areas and switching – feeding power from other areas of our system. Outages will likely occur throughout the system and will be ongoing if the fire continues to spread. Outages will be sporadic and for various amounts of time as this switching takes place.
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UPDATE – 3:10 p.m., Aug. 6 – The substation closest to Windy Gap is being de-energized. Power will be fed from alternate subs, with the exception of meters along Highway 125, from Highway 40 to Buffalo Creek, as there are no alternate ways to feed these meters.
Power to Hot Sulphur Springs has been restored from the earlier public safety power shut off.
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UPDATE – 2:30 p.m., Aug. 6 – MPE is enacting a public safety power shut-off around the Windy Gap fire in a few meter locations near Windy Gap that may also affect power to Hot Sulphur Springs. As the fire progresses, other public safety shut-offs may be required.
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(Aug. 6, 2025 – 1:50 p.m.) MPE crews are closely watching the two fires in our area – Windy Gap and the Farnham Fire near Kremmling – to evaluate their proximity to our power lines and infrastructure.
Assessments will be ongoing to determine if public safety power shut-offs will be necessary to protect from system damage or the spread of the fires.
If public safety power shut-offs are deemed necessary, MPE will communicate these outages on the website and on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/MountainParksElectric).
The free Watch Duty app and website provides updates on wildfires. Visit https://app.watchduty.org/ or download the app on your phone for fire updates.
