A Texas district court ordered Xcel, an electric utility with more than 200,000 customers in Texas, on Monday to replace poles within wildfire-prone areas it has identified as damaged, following an agreement between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the utility.
In a news release, Paxton called the development a first step toward holding Xcel accountable for the 2024 wildfires that scorched through a million acres of the Texas Panhandle, killing scores of cattle and at least three people. Shortly after the devastation began, Xcel admitted the pole that sparked the fire was theirs.
