Energy company locks Colorado woman’s thermostat during scorching heat wave — ‘not safe’

An energy company is facing serious heat after a Colorado woman revealed that she was unable to lower her thermostat during a week of record-high temperatures.

Kyri Baker, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, told NBC affiliate 9 News that she attempted to turn down her home thermostat from an uncomfortable 79 degrees to a less hellish 75, only to receive a message from Xcel Energy informing her that the power grid was too taxed to accommodate the decrease.

“I just wanted to set it to 75, something very reasonable so my daughter could fall asleep,” she explained.

When Baker tried to lower her thermostat, she received the following message: ‘To conserve energy in your community due to stress on the regional energy grid, you cannot set your temperature to be lower.’ 

Baker’s experience coincided with an extreme heat wave in Colorado where temperatures reached 100 degrees on Saturday and remained in the 90s across parts of the Centennial State on Monday and Tuesday.

Baker had previously opted into Xcel’s Saver’s Switch program, which credits customers $40 per month in exchange for permitting the company to control their temperatures and automatically cycle out air conditioning during peak heat to conserve power grid capacity.

Xcel Energy explains on its website that the Saver’s Switch program activates on a few summer days per year, and functions by turning air conditioning off for 15-20-minute intervals while maintaining fan operation.

“Most customers don’t even notice when Saver’s Switch is activated. On control days, Saver’s Switch is typically activated between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m,” they argued. 

Though Baker voluntarily enrolled in the program to offset her carbon footprint during periods of high demand, she was unaware she would not be able to adjust her thermostat.

“It was kind of annoying. I’m doing my part to help the grid, and I’m getting penalized for it in some way.”

She believes the restriction creates potentially dangerous conditions, noting that her home was fixed at 80 degrees.

“It’s literally not safe to have a utility not allow you to cool or heat your house to a certain degree,” she emphasized, noting that it could be particularly perilous for older adults or those with medical conditions,

Baker, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, has a keen understanding of how extreme heat can affect the grid, as heat makes infrastructure less efficient as customer demand for cool air increases.

Baker believes changes and upgrades to the grid system are long overdue and that Colorado needs to address the electric grid’s underlying capacity rather than rely on customers to reduce demand.

Other US cities have similarly struggled to combat rising temperatures with outdated energy grids. 

Beginning Jan. 1, 2027, landlords in unincorporated parts of LA County will be required to keep rental units at 82 degrees Fahrenheit or cooler, marking a major shift in what counts as a livable home as Southern California battles hotter, longer and increasingly muggier heat waves.

Earlier this summer, Mayor Zohran Mamdani urged New Yorkers to set their air conditioners to 78 degrees amid rising temps to reduce strain on the city’s grid.

“New York: it’s hot out there, and the power grid is working overtime to keep us cool,” he wrote in a post on X. “Set your AC to 78 degrees, turn off lights/electronics you’re not using, and unplug what you can.”

Mamdani claimed city buildings would also abide by the 78-degree rule, though recent reports suggest otherwise.

“A stable grid means the AC stays on, and lives are saved. Let’s ease demand — and get through the heat,” he added.

The Department of Energy suggests that during the summer, people should keep their thermostats at 75 degrees to 78 degrees Fahrenheit and to raise the temperature when nobody is home.

Mamdani’s predecessor, Eric Adams, also advised New Yorkers to set their AC to 78 degrees while a heat advisory was in effect in July 2023.

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