{"id":902407,"date":"2024-03-13T14:05:43","date_gmt":"2024-03-13T20:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=902407"},"modified":"2024-03-13T14:05:53","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T20:05:53","slug":"wildfires-xcel-equipment-likely-involved-in-texas-wildfire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wildfires-xcel-equipment-likely-involved-in-texas-wildfire\/","title":{"rendered":"Xcel Says Its Equipment Likely Involved in Huge Texas Blaze"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Mark Chediak | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.claimsjournal.com\/news\/national\/2024\/03\/07\/322383.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Claims Journal<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Xcel Energy Inc. acknowledged that its equipment was likely involved in igniting the worst <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/expert-witness-nothing-to-witness\/\">wildfire<\/a> in Texas history. But the utility company refuted allegations it had acted negligently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBased on currently available information, Xcel Energy acknowledges that its facilities appear to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse Creek fire,\u201d the company said in a statement Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Xcel said last week that it had been asked by a law firm to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.claimsjournal.com\/news\/national\/2024\/03\/07\/322379.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">preserve a fallen wooden pole<\/a>\u00a0located near the potential origin of the Smokehouse Creek fire, which has charred more than 1 million acres and resulted in at least two deaths. The pole had been inspected and marked with a \u201cdo not climb\u201d red tag before the blaze erupted during dry and windy conditions in late February, according to photos reviewed by Bloomberg News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While recognizing that its equipment may have been involved in starting the fire, the company \u201cdisputes claims that it acted negligently in maintaining and operating its infrastructure,\u201d according to the statement. The shares gained 1% before the start of regular trading in New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Xcel has lost more than $5 billion in market value since it disclosed early on Feb. 29 that the law firm was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.claimsjournal.com\/news\/national\/2024\/03\/04\/322322.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">alleging a link between its equipment and the possible start of the Texas blaze<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The company is the latest utility owner to face scrutiny over the potential role its equipment played in sparking wildfires. Utilities have been investigated for starting fires from Hawaii to Colorado. In the latter, Xcel faces lawsuits that accuse one of its utilities of starting the most destructive fire in state history, which officials concluded was caused in part by a power line that snapped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Warren Buffett, whose PacifiCorp utility faces multibillion-dollar wildfire claims, told investors in his recent annual letter that electric utilities no longer appear to be safe investments due to losses incurred from more frequent forest fires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes &#8211; please call Advise &amp; Consult, Inc. at 888.684.8305, or email <a href=\"mailto:experts@adviseandconsult.net\">experts@adviseandconsult.net<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mark Chediak | Claims Journal Xcel Energy Inc. acknowledged that its equipment was likely involved in igniting the worst wildfire in Texas history. But the utility company refuted allegations it had acted negligently. \u201cBased on currently available information, Xcel Energy acknowledges that its facilities appear to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wildfires-xcel-equipment-likely-involved-in-texas-wildfire\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Xcel Says Its Equipment Likely Involved in Huge Texas Blaze<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10721],"tags":[9895,23,155,9943],"class_list":["post-902407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-insurance","tag-advise-consult","tag-insurance-coverage","tag-texas","tag-wildfires","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Xcel Says Its Equipment Likely Involved in Huge Texas Blaze - Advise &amp; 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