Fourteen months after the Smokehouse Creek Fire scorched over a million acres of Texas Panhandle land, the scars remain painfully visible — not only on the landscape but also in the lives and livelihoods of those who call it home. Ranchers, farmers, and local producers are still digging out from the economic devastation, and many say the compensation promised by Xcel Energy remains elusive.
For rural communities rooted in generational land stewardship, recovery is not as simple as rebuilding — it's about restoring an entire way of life. That process takes time, money, and support. And according to voices on the ground, that last piece — support from Xcel Energy — hasn’t come through in the way it was promised.
“They’ve Had Their Grazing Losses…”
Jeff Haley, County Commissioner of Gray County, summed up what so many in his region are experiencing. “They've had their grazing losses, their capital losses like their fences they've had to pay for to get their ranches fenced so they can bring cattle back,” he said. “Some of them have lost cattle, lost their stock, and they need to be able to repurchase, get the ranches stocked, so they can start the income, start making their living again.”
That’s the part that often gets missed in disaster recovery — this isn’t just about reimbursement, it’s about restarting life. Fences, cattle, forage, barns, equipment — these are not luxuries. They’re tools of survival.
And when those tools are gone, families can’t simply “wait it out.” They have bills to pay, notes to cover, and in many cases, employees who depend on them.
Promises Made, Promises Delayed
At last month’s annual beef conference, a panel of affected ranchers, farmers, and producers gathered to publicly call on Xcel Energy to make good on its word. The fire — believed to have been started by a snapped power pole — led the utility to initially admit responsibility. In March 2024, Xcel stated it would “make ranchers whole” and get victims “back to as close as pre-event condition as they could.”
But ranchers like Jeff Chisum say that hasn’t happened. Chisum, who owns Chisum Ranch in Roberts County, lost 95% of his forage and fencing. Worse, he says Xcel isn’t even picking up the phone.
“They're not willing to negotiate or even communicate with us,” Chisum said. “That’s a huge problem because my desire is to make sure my grandson and granddaughter have a place that's in our family. It's all about legacy for us.”
When communication breaks down, so does trust — and that’s where frustrations are boiling over.
A Billion-Dollar Problem, and a Deafening Silence
Bram Browder, managing partner of the Farm and Ranch Loss Assessment Group, has been at the heart of documenting damages. His firm has assessed over a billion dollars in losses across Canadian and neighboring counties. What he describes is a broken claims process that’s left too many hanging.
“From when the claim was filed to the first call received, typically it was in the range of five months,” Browder explained. “Although Xcel states on their website 90 days unless the claim is overly complex... that has gone out the window.”
Browder doesn’t mince words. “They’ve dragged it out, brought in a litigation firm — they have done everything but make victims whole.”
Xcel Responds — Sort Of
Xcel Energy says that of the 225 claims filed, it has finalized 151 settlements. That’s a little over two-thirds, leaving 74 families still waiting. In a statement, the company said it's “committed to supporting those affected” and is “enhancing” the process with more local support. But the phrasing suggests bureaucracy over urgency, and for many on the ground, that doesn’t pay bills or put cattle in pastures.
"We understand some landowners are concerned about the timeline,” the company said, “but fair compensation requires careful vetting.”
Fair — but slow.
Common Sense Says: Move Faster
This isn’t just about policy, process, or legal risk management. It’s about people whose lives have been stalled for over a year through no fault of their own. Common sense says that when a multibillion-dollar corporation acknowledges its role in a disaster, it should act with the same urgency its victims were forced to respond with in the chaos of the fire.
They didn’t get five months to react. They had minutes.
Now, they’re asking for fairness, speed, and sincerity.
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