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In April 2024, Xcel Energy did something Colorado homeowners hadn’t seen before: with hurricane-force winds forecast across the Front Range, it cut power to roughly 55,000 Denver-metro customers on purpose, to keep its lines from sparking a fire. Two years earlier those same dry winds had driven the Marshall Fire through Boulder County, the most destructive wildfire in state history. Colorado has no regional grid operator; Xcel Energy and Colorado Springs Utilities run their own systems on the Western grid, and increasingly they’ll pull the plug themselves when conditions turn dangerous. Add the winter blizzards that snap lines from Denver to the Western Slope, and backup power stops being optional. If you’re already comparing Colorado solar quotes, remember a grid-tied rooftop system shuts off in any outage (anti-islanding rules) unless you also have storage.
When the utility pulls the plug on purpose
A public-safety power shutoff can last hours or days, and it happens on the driest, most fire-prone days of the year — exactly when you don’t want a gas generator running outside in the wind and smoke. A Jackery is zero-emission, LiFePO4, and near-silent at about 30 decibels, so it runs safely indoors. The HomePower 3000 keeps the fridge, medical devices, Wi-Fi, lights, and a gas furnace’s fan going for one to two days, with about 3,072Wh and 3,600W output, and its included panels recharge it in Colorado’s strong high-elevation sun.
▶ See the HomePower 3000 solar generator use code DEAL5
Winter is the harder test
A wind shutoff is deliberate and forecast; a blizzard just hits. When heavy snow takes down lines around Fort Collins or Colorado Springs and the temperature drops, losing the furnace is the real danger. For a bigger home or a heavier heating load, the Solar Generator 5000 Plus delivers 5,040Wh and 7,200W with both 120V and 240V, expandable to 60kWh — enough to run a furnace blower plus several rooms, or handle the surge of larger appliances, through a multi-day outage.
▶ View the Solar Generator 5000 Plus
Most Colorado homes land in between, and that’s the HomePower 3600 Plus: 3,584Wh, 3,600W, expandable to 21kWh, and able to tie into your circuits through a transfer switch. It carries the gas furnace’s blower, the fridge, lights, and Wi-Fi through a Boulder ice storm or a wildfire-season shutoff, with room to add batteries for more runtime.
▶ Check the HomePower 3600 Plus
One detail Colorado’s climate rewards: these units recharge from the sun, and the state’s high-elevation air is thin and clear, so the panels often top the battery back up between storm bands or on the calm, bright day after a wind event has passed. That’s what lets a single unit stretch across a multi-day event instead of draining once and quitting.
Whichever fits, set it up before fire season and the first snow, and it’s charged and ready when the grid — or the utility — pulls power. It’s worth checking the current deals first.
Keep reading: Colorado solar incentives & costs · Best solar generators for home backup (Utah) · Best solar generators for home backup (New Mexico)