Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Tuesday that his office is suing Southwestern Public Service Company, which operates in Texas as Xcel Energy, over its alleged involvement in the Smokehouse Creek fire.
The largest fire in state history killed three people and 15,000 head of cattle and burned more than 1 million acres in the Panhandle in March of 2024.
"The company made false representations about its safety commitments and ignored warnings that its aging infrastructure needed immediate repair and to be updated," Paxton said in a news release announcing the lawsuit. "This created a substantial wildfire risk, which Xcel did nothing about."
The Texas A&M Forest Service found last year that a power line had ignited the initial flame, and Xcel Energy acknowledged one of its facilities appeared to be involved. But the company fell short of admitting negligence.
Xcel said in a statement Tuesday that it has been working with the attorney general as it investigates the fire.
"We are deeply disappointed that the Attorney General decided to pursue this litigation," said company spokesperson Kaley Green. "Though Xcel Energy disputes claims that it acted negligently in maintaining and operating its infrastructure, we accepted responsibility from the beginning and set up an expedited claims process."
Xcel has agreed to settle $361 million in claims made against the company from the fire, Green said.
The fire caused more than $1 billion in economic losses for the state. The AG's lawsuit aims to recoup those losses and "take corrective action and ensure a tragedy like this never happens again," according to Paxton's office.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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