Wind, ice, and weathering are power companies enemies | Subscriber Content [Video]

A wildfire that burned through 1,700 square miles in Texas last week killed two women, destroyed as many as 500 structures, and ravaged thousands of cattle.

A fire driven by winds that exceeded 100 mph tore through 1,100 homes and killed two people in Superior, Louisville, and Boulder County three years ago.

And the catastrophic Camp Fire killed 85 people and burned more than 153,000 acres in California in 2018.

All three fires had something in common — the spark that started them came from powerlines or electrical equipment operated by power companies.

Or at least that’s what investigations and reports claimed.

A 2023 report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory noted six of of the Top 20 most destructive fires in California history were caused by powerlines, including the Dixie fire that burned 963,309 acres in 2021 and the Camp Fire that was responsible for 85 deaths in 2018.

And while data on electricity-caused wildfires was not available …