Lawsuit Blames PNM for Starting McBride Fire

The McBride Fire ripped through Ruidoso in April, destroying hundreds of homes and killing two people.

Now, there are some new calls for accountability. A new lawsuit claims a mismanaged area near a PNM power line is to blame for that deadly fire.

The lawsuit outlines findings from an independent investigator. The civil suit claims PNM neglected an area where a tree blew over, causing the deadliest wildfire in New Mexico history.

Joe Lovell represents three Texans who lost their vacation home on Gavilan Canyon Road in Ruidoso.

“Well, it’s heartbreaking,” Lovell said. “For this particular group, they were largely retired people who put a significant chunk of their retirement and their time into having this place where they go every summer.”

They are suing PNM and the company PNM contracts with to cut trees near power lines.

Lovell said they expect more New Mexicans to join their lawsuit, and other lawsuits will likely follow.

While the official cause of the fire is still “under investigation,” Lovell claimed their own certified fire investigator found where the deadly fire first started.

“It’s the result of the tree falling on top of the power line. If you don’t take good care of your power lines and the areas around the power lines, these are foreseeable consequences,” Lovell said.

Lovell said satellite pictures show downed trees near the same area where they claim the fire started. They said it’s evidence that PNM did not properly care for this area – for years.

“If it was a healthy tree, why did it fall down when so many of the others did not?” said Lovell.

A spokesperson from PNM says they have the lawsuit and sent KOB 4 the following statement:

“It’s unfortunate that a healthy large tree, spanning over 50 feet tall and located outside the PNM right-of-way, blew over due to extremely high winds, contacting a PNM power line. PNM will work with all involved parties in this litigation.”

As for Trees Incorporated – the company PNM contracts with to manage trees in New Mexico – KOB 4 called them but never got a response back.

PNM is the public power utility serving that region.

So, “the public” is pretty much being led down the primrose path to crucify the deepest pockets they think they can find over this fire that broke out; ostensibly, at least, because an unmaintained tree adjacent to a power line right-of-way fell onto power lines.

The sentient being observing from the outside will immediately comprehend that the money to pay any eventual settlement will ultimately come from PNM customers themselves, many of whom are now waving pitchforks and torches in this charade. But leftists among them don’t care; the left never cares when power gets more expensive, they’re all in the tank for any and ever disincentive that can be imposed to get people not to use power. Making it more expensive qualifies, in their minds.

Add to their ranks, the cadre of complete dolts who haven’t the least awareness how this money thing is going to go down, and you have the Perfect Storm of people necessary to make a show of holding the public utility accountable, while simultaneously fleecing all their neighbors, and accomplishing leftist climate agenda goals to boot.

There’s nothing here that a leftist pol wouldn’t just love, and poor ol’ New Mexico is shot through with plenty of them.

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Our neighbor's tree was knocking branches against PNM's lines during high winds several years ago. We didn't know it, because we couldn't see it from the house. It was causing mini-brownouts all morning. I was working from home that day, and neighbors were both at work.

We called PNM and asked if any other customers were calling about power surges. They said no, but also sent a truck out immediately. The guy checked the lines to our house and our breaker box (outside the home). Then he went to the back of the property and looked down their lines both directions from our property. He saw the branches and sparking. Called in another truck with the equipment to cut the branches (ceramic and fiberglass pole-saw). They were very responsive and our neighbors were grateful we called it in. They didn't realize their branches would move enough to hit the lines. Those were winds like we had when the McBride Fire started in Ruidoso last month.

“That facility provides a stable source of electricity to the state...”

Well, but not NM only; the plant is on the grid, which connects across State lines to the broader nationwide power infrastructure, right? So that loss of generation isn’t limited to NM voters; how do pols in Santa Fe escape getting sued by, say, Arizona, Colorado, or Oklahoma over the negatives being foisted upon consumers in those states?

Let me illustrate the absurd by being absurd:
What if a State decided to shut down ALL non-renewable generating capacity in-State.
Two things immediately:
A.) They’re no longer a stable supplier to the grid.
B.) They’re no longer able to be “Net Zero” in terms of energy shared across state lines; they becomes a net importer — always hungry.

So, they “get to be green”; but the stable generating capacity the grid needs in order to be reliable just got foisted — necessarily — on some other State that, now, CAN’T “be green.”

Now repeat that 46 more times across the Lower 48: EVERY STATE in the contiguous 48 “goes green” until there’s only one left; let’s say it’s Oklahoma.
Windmills and solar arrays everywhere all over the nation.
EXCEPT all of their generated output is UNSTABLE; there’s not an ability for any State to commit a set amount of power to the grid 24/7, and even states that have hydroelectric generating capacity can’t vary that output to compensate for fluctuations in their wind and solar output.
There’s no ability, anymore, for any of these “green” States to COMMIT to supporting the overall grid with a knowable baseline amount of power; it’s a statistics-based guess that Mother Nature can — and will — invalidate OFTEN.
“Well, it just wasn’t as windy as is typical.”
“Well, the solar arrays got buried in that blizzard mid-month, and still aren’t all cleared off.”

And then there’s Oklahoma. Can’t Be Green OK.
Why? Because SOMEBODY, SOMEWHERE HAS TO be able to commit a KNOWABLE, STABLE BASELINE to the national grid 24/7/365 or we become the Brownout Nation.

The ONLY way to do that with renewables is to:
A.) OVERDEVELOP generating capacity by at least 100%.
B.) Then develop even MORE to build dynamic storage.
So when you’re generating, you generate way more than you need, and store all that you don’t, because when the sun goes down or the wind stops you’ll need it but won’t be able to generate it.

The infrastructure required to implement that system is at least THREE TIMES that of controllable generating facilities: gas-fired, coal fired, nuclear, even geothermal. Controllable technologies DON’T need to be overdeveloped to meet an average baseline; you need 50MW, you can build 50MW and you know you can, then, commit to delivering 50MW. Controllable technologies DON’T need adjunct dynamic storage facilities.

If I’m the Governor of Oklahoma in this scenario, rather than build stable generating capacity for the rest of the country, I’m electrically ISOLATING my State from the national grid. OK power for OK people, and the rest of the country — good luck with your choices.

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