Texas AG launches probe into Xcel Energy, other utility companies connected to wildfires

[wildfire under electrical transmission line]
My Photo Buddy/iStock via Getty Images

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/XEL]) -1.5% in Friday's trading after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced an investigation [https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-announces-investigation-utility-companies-connected-devastating] into Xcel and two other utility companies connected to the 2024 Smokehouse Creek and Windy Deuce fires.

The AG's office issued civil investigative demand letters related to the two fires that burned more than 1M acres, killed two people, destroyed hundreds of homes, and killed 12,500 cattle.

"Power facilities operated by utility companies in the area caused and contributed to the outbreak," Paxton's office said. "Some of these companies may have acted negligently by failing to conduct necessary infrastructure maintenance and possibly prioritizing environmental, social, and governance or diversity, equity, and inclusion agendas over safety."

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/XEL]) has said its power lines likely started [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4077212-xcel-energy-says-facilities-likely-involved-in-largest-ever-texas-wildfire] the Smokehouse Creek fire, which is considered the largest wildfire in Texas history, but has disputed that its equipment sparked the nearby Windy Deuce fire; the company is set to go to trial next month over its role in the 2021 Marshall fire in Colorado, which it denies igniting.

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