A Texas Panhandle businessman wants to take over the region’s electric utility saying Xcel Energy has not done its job of protecting the area from wildfires.
Salem Abraham, from Canadian, has mapped out more than 300 miles of utility infrastructure in the region of treeless grassland, plateaus and canyons and says structure have been marked as defective or dangerous by Xcel Energy. He says this is evidence of failure to upkeep the infrastructure, and as long as they remain tagged and unreplaced, there is a danger of another wildfire.
He said Xcel puts profits over safety and the cities damaged by the wildfires must demand more be done to protect the region. Nearly two years ago, a damaged utility pole owned by Xcel sparked the state’s largest wildfire in history, killing two people, scores of livestock and charred more than a million acres.
Abraham said the ranchland is just as vulnerable to more devastation. He said Xcel has put profits over safety, and that the cities damaged by the wildfires must demand that the utility do more to protect the region.
Abraham has created a new company that is leading a group of 11 Panhandle towns to pressure Xcel to upgrade its poles and other electric infrastructure, as well as laying the groundwork for a possible takeover. The company, Don’t Burn Me Services LLC, has been hired by the cities to consult on the process, according to documents obtained by The Texas Tribune. Agreements with each of the cities state that Abraham’s company “will recommend alternatives” for each city’s existing electric services. Announced in December following Attorney General Ken Paxton’s intention to sue Xcel, the coalition includes Canadian, Borger and Perryton . Paxton’s lawsuit alleges that Xcel misrepresented its safety commitment and ignored warning about aging infrastructure.
According to Abraham, “It makes sense to me that if you do such a bad job running something that you kill people, burn down houses, destroy billions in property and millions of acres, that you might get fired. Anyone working at their job that screws up that big should get fired.”
Xcel disputed Abraham’s claims, with Adrian Rodriguez, the president of the company’s Texas and New Mexico offices, saying the company has taken dramatic measures to bolster its infrastructure, including expanding and implementing wildfire mitigation plans, replacing 1,400 poles immediately after the fires and adopting a $500 million taxpayer- funded plan to bolster wildfire protections required by the Texas Legislature, as well as paying out hundreds of millions in financial claims, settled multiple lawsuits while negotiating more, and briefed emergency management officials across the Panhandle to include them in the company’s plans.
A fourth-generation Canadian resident, Abraham grew up on his family’s ranch. The family has been in the ranching business for more than 100 years. He has built his own small empire that focuses on buying and selling other ranches, oil and gas properties and wind rights.
He established a company, Don’t Burn Me Services LLC, which the cities hired to consult on the process, according to documents obtained by The Texas Tribune.
Agreements with each of the cities state that Abraham’s company “will recommend alternatives” for each city’s existing electric services.
A fourth-generation Canadian resident, Abraham grew up on his family’s ranch. The family has been in the ranching business for more than 100 years. He has built his own small empire that focuses on buying and selling other ranches, oil and gas properties and wind rights.