The lawsuit alleges Minnesota-based Xcel Energy failed to maintain utility poles that started the 2024 Panhandle fire that killed three people and thousands of livestock.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday is seeking monetary damages and consumer restitution in a lawsuit against a national utility company, alleging it failed to care for its aging Texas infrastructure that caused the state’s largest wildfire.
Two decayed utility poles owned by Xcel Energy sparked the Smokehouse Creek fire in 2024 that burned through more than 1 million acres in West Texas, killing three people and thousands of livestock and causing more than $1 billion in damages. The lawsuit claims Xcel had marked one of the poles that fell as defective weeks before it started the fire, but that the Minnesota-based company chose not to replace it.
“Xcel ignored the warning and chose to place marginal profits — amounting to only a few thousand dollars — above the safety and wellbeing of Texans, the State’s property, and the natural resources enjoyed by all People,” the lawsuit read.
The lawsuit was filed in district court in Hemphill County, where dozens of homes were destroyed and 44-year-old Cindy Owen died from injuries sustained in the fire. The suit also seeks civil penalties against Xcel under the Public Utility Regulation Act for allegedly failing to maintain its utility poles and distribution lines. Xcel officials confirmed in 2024 that they owned the utility poles that had caused the fire, but have denied allegations of negligence.
In a statement Tuesday, Xcel said it had “accepted responsibility from the beginning” and attempted to work with victims and state officials to reach solutions. Paxton announced in August he had sent investigative letters to Xcel, as well as Osmose Utilities Services and Southwestern Public Services Company, to discern their roles in recent wildfires.
“When the Attorney General’s office approached us earlier this year requesting information, we worked with them in good faith to try and find a consensus solution. They chose to file litigation instead,” Xcel’s statement read.
On Wednesday, a coalition of 11 cities damaged by the fires announced it was launching a new effort to “strengthen utility oversight and implement reforms necessary to prevent future utility-caused wildfires.”
Salem Abraham, a Canadian businessman, is serving as an adviser to the group. In a statement, Abraham said the group would back Paxton’s suit.
“Our Panhandle communities continue to focus on safety,” Abraham said. “They’ve come together to work with the Attorney General and Xcel to find a solution that ensures public safety, increases reliability, and provides appropriate oversight to help put an end to utility-caused wildfires while protecting rate payers.”
Xcel has already settled more than 200 claims made against the company and paid roughly $361 million, according to the company’s statement Tuesday.
A Texas House committee report released months after the wildfire confirmed the decayed poles had started the Smokehouse Creek fire, and that insufficiently maintained power equipment had started four other fires in the state in 2024. In the wake of those blazes, Texas passed a legislative package during the regular legislative session this year designed to improve emergency officials’ ability to respond to fires as they occur. One of the new laws allows state agencies to inspect power lines, as more than 60% of Panhandle fires have been caused by fallen utility poles.
Source: Ayden Runnels, The Texas Tribune
Photo Credit: A truck affected by the Smokehouse Creek fire sits on a lot in Fritch in the Texas Panhandle, on March 1, 2024. Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune
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