Xcel Energy said Thursday that its power equipment may have started the largest wildfire in Texas history, adding to the utility industry’s struggles in a changing climate that makes fires costlier and more destructive.
In a statement, the Minnesota-based utility company acknowledged that “its facilities appear to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse Creek fire.” But Xcel disputed “claims that it acted negligently in maintaining and operating its infrastructure.”
Xcel, which operates in Texas through its Southwestern Public Service subsidiary, already faces legal action from homeowners who say power lines that were not properly maintained sparked the fire, which has burned more than a million acres in the Texas Panhandle and destroyed at least 60 homes.
The Smokehouse Creek Fire, the largest in a series of fires burning in the Panhandle area, started last month and quickly spread in the dry grassland. The fire was 74 percent contained as of Thursday afternoon, according to state officials.
