DENVER (KDVR) – People who live in one of the buildings in the Ivy Crossings Apartment complex in east Denver have been without gas for weeks. They said they’ve asked Xcel and the apartment building management for help multiple times, but have yet to receive any.
Multiple renters at Ivy Crossing Apartments have shared the same complaint.
Residents told the Problem Solvers that the gas was turned off back on May 7, and it’s been almost three weeks. For those residents, a lack of gas also means a lack of access to hot water and heat.
“We have had no heat or hot water. I have a six-month-old daughter and a three-year-old daughter, and then my wife,” father of two, Elijah Vazquez explained. “Yeah, it’s just been a real struggle, a real struggle recently.”
Some residents want to move out and others have forked over money for a hotel.
“It has not been a great experience at all for me. I’m hoping to get my lease terminated with no penalties, just so I could leave,” Vazquez said. “This is against the law.”
“I’ve been here for a long 10 months,” Jeff Morris said. “I paid for a hotel room. For two weeks now I think because no gas, no hot water.”
These impacted residents have said they voiced their concerns, but have received no positive results.
“They don’t care. They don’t, they really just don’t care,” said Jeff Morris.
“I mean, good luck reaching out to them. Reaching out to them is just trying to like play like cat and mouse,” said Vazquez.
“We got elderly people, people with babies,” Morris said. “People in jail get better, better living in this!”
The building manager’s Vice President sent us a statement:
“We are aware of a recent challenge that some residents at Ivy Crossing are experiencing with their hot water. Due to an unforeseen boiler issue in one of the buildings in the community, gas was shut-off while we worked with Xcel Energy on the necessary repairs. Our residents remain our top priority and we recognize that this has been an inconvenience to the residents impacted by the shut-off. We have work closely with Xcel Energy and the city to complete the repairs, obtain the necessary permits, and pass all required inspections in order to resume full service to the building.
While all of this was completed last week, this weekend’s unexpected snowstorm has caused a delay as Excel Energy has had to respond to several outages around the greater Denver area.
We appreciate our resident’s patience during this time. (sic)”
Eric Clark
Vice President, Property Mgmt Business Operations
Clark could not provide any estimated time the gas would be restored but added:
“Xcel has not released a date to us yet and remain in active communication with Xcel at this time. We are working individually with residents to help them temporarily relocate to another apartment on the community as needed.”
An Xcel spokesperson also sent a statement:
“Safety is a priority for us and we work with our customers to ensure their property is safe. We have been working with this complex, however the issues are on the customer side of the meter and are being addressed by the property manager. We understand how difficult it can be to be without natural gas, especially given our recent cold weather. Our crews continue to help, where they can, to resolve this issue.”