Dozens of insurance companies are suing Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy to recoup money paid out to homes and businesses lost in Colorado's most destructive wildfire in 2021.
The lawsuit was filed just weeks after investigators announced that a sparking power line owned by Xcel was one of the causes of a fire that destroyed nearly 1,000 homes and left two people dead. The blaze caused $2 billion in damage in a suburban area between Denver and Boulder.
In response to the allegations, Xcel reissued a statement first given in response to the results of the fire investigation, saying that it “strongly objected to its findings”.
“We strongly disagree with any suggestion that Xcel Energy’s power lines caused the second ignition, which according to the report started 80 to 110 feet away from Xcel Energy’s powerlines in an area with underground coal fire activity," the statement said.
The lawsuit was filed last Thursday a few weeks after the investigation began. More than 150 insurance companies allege in the lawsuit that Xcel, which operates in eight states in the Midwest and West, failed to properly design, construct, inspect, maintain, repair or operate its electrical equipment prior to the fire.