Power provider Xcel Energy is getting a hundred million dollars from the federal government, trying to make sure its equipment doesn’t start wildfires…
(Xcel anti-wildfire spending :42)
That’s part of a multi-billion-dollar investment, through an infrastructure bill that passed in Washington, in 2021. Xcel is contributing 142 million dollars for that work, planned to take place in Colorado and 4 other states. Xcel’s supposed to use that money to bury power lines and clear away trees that could contact its lines, and to test how well its equipment holds up in strong winds. Other retrofits that could stop power lines from igniting fires are expected, as well. Xcel is still facing multiple lawsuits from the huge Marshall Fire in Boulder County a few years ago. Investigators there blamed its lines for starting one of two fires that eventually merged into a mega-fire in December 2021. Xcel claims its equipment didn’t start a fire that day, but also says if it did, the other fire was already burning homes.