A growing number of lawsuits allege that electricity companies in the western U.S. failed to prepare for extreme weather, resulting in repeated, catastrophic wildfires that have killed scores of people and caused billions of dollars in damage.

A lawsuit alleging negligence has been filed against Hawaiian Electric. More than 100 people have been killed and the historic town of Lahaina has been burned to the ground by the devastating wildfires on Maui this month. Maui County sued the power company for damages on Thursday.

In the Maui County complaint, Hawaiian Electric is being sued for the 12th time. According to the lawsuits, downed power lines operated by the company contributed to the deadliest U.S. wildfire in over a century.

Despite the National Weather Service’s “red flag” warning that an increased fire risk was present due to hurricane winds and drought conditions on the island, the utility failed to shut off power.

A statement issued by Hawaii Electric on Sunday disputed some of those claims.

As a result of the litigation, Fitch says the company could face an existential threat. As a result of wildfire liabilities worth billions of dollars, Pacific Gas & Electric filed for bankruptcy in 2019.

The Hawaiian Electric allegations echo those brought against PG&E in California over the 2018 Camp Fire, PacifiCorp in Oregon over the 2020 Labor Day wildfires, and Xcel Energy in Colorado over the 2021 Marshall Fire.

The power companies did not shut off the power before all these catastrophic wildfires, despite high winds that can knock down power lines and dry or outright drought conditions that can cause large fires.

A well-documented wildfire risk is posed by aboveground power lines. Over 32,000 wildfires were started by transmission and distribution lines in the U.S. from 1992 to 2020, according to Forest Service data.