Xcel Energy: Colorado Blizzard's Dynamics 'Slowed Our Restoration'

DENVER (CBS4) - Around 30,000 people are still without power Thursday night after Wednesday's bomb cyclone storm, according to Xcel Energy. The storm brought heavy, wet snow and high winds that uprooted trees and brought down power lines.

Xcel says in just 24 hours they had reports of more than 400,000 people who lost electricity during the storm. The energy company said crews had restored service to approximately 94 percent, or about 435,000 customers, who were affected by the original storm.

Jeff Korengold knew losing power was a possibility, but he didn't expect to be without it for 30 hours.

"I figured by the time I get home from work it'll be back. Power outages don't usually last that long," said Korengold.

The storm brought heavy snow and high winds that uprooted trees and brought down power lines. Dangerous conditions made it impossible for crews to work in certain outage areas.

More than 500 workers have been working on restoring power but may have been delayed due to road closures and hazardous driving conditions.

"Some of them that were momentary, some of them that are still ongoing," explained Xcel Energy spokeswoman Hollie Velasquez Horvath.

On Thursday morning, crews began fixing a power pole at the intersection of Josephine Street and 47th Avenue that broke during the storm because of high winds.

"We could hear it from inside the house, it was just loud crashing noises," explained Kyle Barnes, who lives nearby.

Barnes said he saw the pole catch fire as his electricity went out. As of 10 a.m. on Thursday, he was still without power.

"It just got cold in the house but we pulled out the cards and played some games, you know," Barnes said.

In order to keep up with the homes, stoplights and businesses that lost power during the storm, Xcel Energy said they brought in nearly three times the number of employees they would have on an average day.

"With the dynamics of the storm yesterday -- road closures, high winds -- it slowed a bit of our restoration," Horvath said. "But we worked with over 500 workers yesterday in restoring as much power as quickly as we could."

They told CBS4 an additional 300 more workers came in on Thursday to help restore power for tens of thousands of people.

Xcel Energy says to contact them if your home or business loses power. For some neighborhoods, the work to restore power will continue on Friday and into the weekend.

Xcel also urges people to "to check for damage to the mast – the electric service connection to your home or business. This is a pipe, mounted to your home or business that holds electric wires and is connected to your meter. If there are damages to the mast, customers will need to contact a licensed electrician to make repairs before we are able to restore service."

Fitness studio, Alchemy 365, was able to stay open by utilizing a different type of energy.

"People create their own heat," explained Tyler Quinn, Alchemy 365 founder. "We actually had a pretty decent size class this morning, even though it was pretty much pitch black and chilly in the room."

The studio didn't have the majority of lights, fans or heat. The water foundation wasn't operational either. Quinn brought space heaters with him to plug into the few outlets that worked.

"We thought we'd be back up and running this morning, but as it turns out we're still sort of semi power," he explained.