Wildfire bill to aid PG&E clears Legislature despite ratepayer concerns
Amid calls from
"This was not easy," said
The sweeping proposal formed quickly this week after months of hearings and intense lobbying that pitted some of the most powerful players at the state
In the end, the bill drew support from
AARP California, the
Discussions at the
Under existing "strict liability" and "inverse condemnation" laws, utility companies are typically responsible in court for providing compensation for property damages if its equipment causes a fire, regardless of whether any negligence is proven.
If utilities do nothing wrong, the
The homeowners insurance industry fought back against the utilities, contending that any changes to inverse condemnation that left them holding the bag would lead to higher premiums or no coverage at all in fire-prone areas. Insurers feared they wouldn't be able to continue to sue utility companies to recover payouts to policyholders.
After dedicating weeks of hearings to the liability law, Sen.
"
But the final bill, put together by a wildfire conference committee Dodd heads, took another avenue to reduce the utility companies' financial burden for property damages that many argue will hurt ratepayers.
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The proposal lawmakers approved Friday instructs the
State regulators would also have to consider
Any excess costs that the commission determines
Ratepayer advocates, manufacturers, agricultural groups and the state's largest oil industry association quickly rallied against the proposal, calling it a "bail-out" for utilities that cause fires out of negligence.
"Our biggest concern is that manufacturers already pay industrial electricity rates that are more than 80 percent higher than the rest of country," said
The Utility Reform Network said lawmakers were concerned about
"In some parts of
Sen.
"The tragedy of our response is that it's focused more on
Dodd contended that rate increases for utility customers were unavoidable after the 2017 fires. He argues that the bonds would allow ratepayers to slowly pay off costs for fires, instead of being hit with a massive increase all at once. And any rate hikes are hypothetical -- the CPUC could refuse to allow
He and other legislators felt they needed to take action to prevent
"It means so many of our constituents who are uninsured or underinsured will likely not recover from wildfire devastation and quite frankly colleagues, we just cannot allow that to happen," Dodd said.
Holding up a map that showed the parts of the state under the greatest threat of wildfire, Assembly Republican Leader
The bill also bans utility companies from funding executive salaries or bonuses with ratepayer money and sets new standards for the corporations to improve infrastructure to prevent fires.
The
"If a company is looking to invest in clean energy projects and the question is, do I invest in a project in
After the votes,
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