DENVER Xcel Energy customers in Colorado may have noticed text messages recently asking them to reduce their energy use during certain hours of the day.The utility calls these "Energy Action Days" - requests for customers to cu t back on energy consumption between 4 and 8 p.m. when temperatures climb above 90 degrees, along with a variety of other grid conditions. Customers who do not reduce their usage during those hours will pay more for their energy, as part of Xcels Time of Use pricing policy.Andrew Holder, Xcel Energy Colorado's director of community relations, said the program is about efficiency and savings, not a struggling power grid."The grid is built for the hottest day in July, so we are ready to meet the demand that is on the energy grid," Holder said.Holder said the goal is to keep customers informed and help them save money."We want them to have the most information that they are using from an energy perspective throughout the day, so that ultimately they could be as efficient as possible with their energy and save money at the end of the month," Holder said.Not everyone sees it that way. Some customers say the 4 to 8 p.m. window is exactly when they need their appliances most."It's kind of a bummer when you work a nine to five because that's when you got to do your cooking or you know your laundry or you're using all your appliances," Xcel customer Summer Noakes said.Another customer, Arturo Montero, said he has found ways to work around the peak hours."I don't need to use the light during the day. I think the sunlight is amazing. I also don't need to use like the drying machine, the washing machine. I can do that during the weekend or at night," Montero said.Chelsea Rosty, vice president of communications at Energy Outreach Colorado, a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of energy consumers at the state and federal level, said the frustration is understandable, but the requests need to be put in context."I think it can feel frustrating, certainly, to receive a message like that from your utility," Rosty said.Rosty said the surge in electric vehicles, large data centers, and electrified homes over the last five years has pushed energy demand to levels that were not anticipated."Our stance is sort of the middle. That's where we land on a lot of things. We understand that energy demand is at an unprecedented high, at a place that was unexpected," Rosty said.She also emphasized that customers retain the final say."I think it's also important for people to remember that they have a choice. These are requests; they're not demands," Rosty said.Ean Thomas Tafoya, vice president of state programs at the environmental nonprofit Green Latinos, said conservation during peak hours matters beyond just cost savings."I think it's a good thing. We need to be encouraging everybody to conserve," Tafoya said.Tafoya explained that high energy demand on hot days leads utilities to fire up additional power plants that burn fossil fuels."What ends up happening is, is they run what they call peaker plants, where they turn on and they burn natural gas or fracked gas, and that leads to emissions that go into the atmosphere and leads to ozone," Tafoya said.This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. ...read more read less