Public blasts Texas agencies, regulators for poor communication and oversight at wildfire hearings

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PAMPA — The Texas legislative committee investigating this year’s deadly Panhandle wildfires blasted state agencies and regulators for failing to communicate — and began hinting at possible legal changes it could propose as it wrapped up its work.

Thursday’s hearing marked the end of the Legislature’s three-day marathon of public hearings into the Smokehouse Creek fire and others that ripped through the Panhandle earlier this year, killing two. Hundreds of homes and ranches were also damaged or destroyed, and as many as 10,000 cattle were killed.

Among the witnesses this week were landowners, volunteer firefighters, utility companies and state agency officials. The committee, which includes three Republican House members and two local landowners, expects to publish its results on May 1.

State Rep. Ken King, a Canadian Republican and chair of the committee, said the Legislature’s work was difficult but necessary.

“You may not like the line of questions or the tone of questions, but we are here for answers,” King told representatives of the state’s regulatory agencies early Thursday. “It’s not a personal attack on you or your agencies, but it’s time for answers.”

The hearings — meant to help understand how the Smokehouse Creek fire burned more than 1 million acres and became the largest in state history — put on display the distrust between Panhandle residents and state agencies and industry. In many cases, the residents of the Panhandle are closer to Denver, Albuquerque, and Oklahoma City than Austin.

At times, the hearings seemed to be a long-awaited opportunity for locals to vent their frustrations that predate this year’s fires.

Rancher Craig Cowden told the commission his ranch had been burned down multiple times since 2006, with the cause either a utility or oil company. He said he had contacted state regulatory agencies each year about down power lines on his property or fuses littering the ground, but he was constantly told that there was no jurisdiction over these matters.

The state’s forest service has concluded that a fallen decayed power line ignited the Smokehouse Creek fire. And Xcel Energy, a Minnesota-based company that provides electricity in the Panhandle, earlier acknowledged its infrastructure appeared “to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse Creek fire.”

Mike Hoke, director of the Office of Public Engagement for the state’s Public Utilities Commission, said the agency doesn’t conduct inspections and relies on the utility companies to hire investigators, who then report to them.

“When there are gaps in bureaucracy, it is very frustrating. The one thing I hate to say as a civil servant is 'It’s not my job.' That doesn’t help anybody, that’s not satisfying,” Hoke said. “So, I hear that frustration loud and clear. But I am bound by statute and by the rules.”

Xcel hired Osmose Utilities Services, a Georgia-based company, to perform safety inspections. Osmose declined to participate in this week’s hearings.

Randall Collins, assistant executive director of the Railroad Commission of Texas, said his regulatory agency also doesn’t have the jurisdiction to inspect power lines and didn’t know whose responsibility it fell under.

This frustrated committee members.

“It appears we got a standoff between two regulatory agencies saying we don’t have the jurisdiction, and then nothing gets done,” said James Henderson, a landowner and public member of the committee.

Hoke also revealed that utility companies can hire any third-party contractor to inspect utility poles without oversight from their agency.

“We regulate the utilities. Who does the inspection is a business decision by them,” he said.

Osmose Utilities Services, a Georgia-based company contracted by Xcel Energy to perform safety inspections, skipped its chance to address lawmakers during the three days of public hearings in Pampa.

“It all leads back to where is Osmose,” King said.

State Rep. Dustin Burrows, a Lubbock Republican on the committee, was animated when he suggested it was time for third-party inspection companies to be licensed in Texas.

“I bet if (Osmose) was licensed, they would be here today because if they didn’t, they might risk losing their license,” he told the Public Utilities Commission.

King cautioned that, at the moment, the passion is high to enforce new rules on utility companies and to change the way state agencies operate, but once lawmakers get involved, the best of intentions can backfire.

“I just want to ensure we aren’t opening Pandora’s box,” he said.

Adrian Rodriguez, president of Xcel Energy’s New Mexico and Texas Southwestern Public Service Company, told the Texas Tribune before his testimony on Thursday that his company was excited to hear about some policy suggestions to prevent another wildfire like this from happening again.

He said he has listened to the complaints from ranchers and landowners the past few days and is ready for lawmakers to do what is necessary.

“Our employees are also members of this community,” Rodriguez said. “Many of them were also directly impacted by fire. Their friends, families and neighbors were impacted. We want to do what we can to keep these communities safe.”

Both Xcel and Osmose are named in several lawsuits following the wildfires.

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