Boulder County approves easements for Xcel utility relocation on 120th Street
The 1.379 acres of easements will allow Xcel to relocate overhead lines during the 120th Street widening project; officials said undergrounding would delay the work and cost more.
Boulder County commissioners unanimously approved three permanent, nonexclusive easements Aug. 4 for Xcel Energy to move overhead power lines out of the 120th Street reconstruction and widening project between Overlook Drive and Dillon Road.
The easements cover 1.379 acres across the county’s Liley, Roberts and Thompson open-space properties. The conveyances cannot occur until a mandatory 60-day waiting period has passed. The commissioners’ meeting minutes say the public hearing drew no comments and that nearby property owners within 500 feet had been notified.
The county’s 120th Street project page lists an anticipated construction start of April 20, 2026, with completion scheduled for December. At the hearing, staff said construction was underway and crews were working around the existing utility poles.
Xcel had begun relocation work before a county right-of-way team paused it because required permits were incomplete, staff said. Work could resume after stormwater-control measures were installed and inspected and a county discharge permit was approved.
Xcel representatives said moving the lines underground would require new trenching, crossings and coordination around buried utilities. They said the option would cost more and extend traffic and roadway impacts. Xcel representative Jay Porteous said undergrounding would take “several, several more months.” Public Works Director Daniel DeLange said it would be “next year at best,” or 2027 based on the hearing date.
The record does not include a dollar comparison for the alternatives; Xcel said it had not designed or priced undergrounding. Xcel would absorb the cost of a like-for-like overhead relocation, while the county would pay some additional cost for undergrounding. The approved design includes an approximately 50-foot underground segment at the southern end, but the broader relocation remains overhead.
Wildfire concerns
Commissioners questioned the decision because the corridor is in an area with wildfire and high-wind concerns. County staff said the project is in Xcel’s Wildfire Tier 2 area and that the company’s criteria do not require undergrounding for this type of rebuild.
Xcel Senior Manager Adam Pena said the replacement “overhead lines will be built [to] a new wildfire standard as well.” DeLange described the plan as “a hardened system built to resist damage from wind.” The meeting record does not name the standard or specify a project-specific inspection schedule, maintenance cycle, monitoring plan or outage-notification procedures.
The documented effects for nearby residents are continuing road construction and utility work needed to clear the widening project. Commissioner Marta Loachamin called undergrounding “too late” for this project but supported the easements. Commissioner Ashley Stolzmann said the approval would allow the county to continue roadway safety improvements.