Xcel Energy Admits That Its Infrastructure Caused Largest Fire In TX History

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=&w=1200
A broken-off SPS/Xcel Energy pole with a danger tag is seen near Stinnett, Tex., on Tuesday. Inspectors who surveyed the equipment this year added the tag to the rotted pole, according to local rancher Salem Abraham. (Salem Abraham)

A U.S. utility’s acknowledgment that it caused the Smokehouse Creek Fire — the largest in Texas’s history — marks the latest instance of a power company being caught unprepared in guarding against ever-more devastating blazes, say energy and fire experts. The Camp Fire, which destroyed Paradise, Calif.; the Marshall Fire in Colorado; last year’s deadly fires in Maui — all were ignited by downed power lines or equipment unable to withstand extreme winds and weather.

“We keep seeing the same pattern with these utilities,” said Gerald Singleton, an attorney for victims of the Marshall Fire who has also represented plaintiffs in other fires. “It’s become universal because the issues they face are universal.” On Thursday, Xcel Energy — a major utility with operations in Texas and other states — acknowledged its power lines and equipment “appear to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse Creek fire,” which has since grown to more than 1 million acres. State investigators were more definitive. The fire was ignited by power lines, said Linda Moon, assistant director of the Texas A&M Forest Service.

Xcel — the parent company of Southwestern Public Service Co., which serves about 403,400 customers in the Panhandle and other parts of Texas and New Mexico — said it was cooperating with fire investigators but disputed allegations that it was negligent in maintaining its power equipment, as a recent lawsuit against the utility has claimed.

Data obtained exclusively by The Washington Post showed that the grid was under extreme stress for about six hours before the fire started Feb 26., as winds topped 50 mph. Whisker Labs, which uses an advanced sensor network to monitor U.S. electricity grids, recorded about 50 “faults” in the system, which often mean a power line may have come in contact with vegetation or another line or been knocked down, releasing power, usually in the form of sparks. Bob Marshall, founder and chief executive of Whisker Labs, said the evidence suggests the company’s equipment was not durable enough to withstand the kind of extreme weather the nation and world increasingly face.

EDIT

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/03/07/smokehouse-creek-texas-fire-cause-xcel/