Wildfire bill is on brink of passage
Newsom’s sweeping plan could be law by Friday
California lawmakers are on the cusp of approving a landmark bill to shield the state’s major electric companies from future wildfire costs and reshape key aspects of how those utilities are regulated, a sweeping endeavor that could become law by Friday after less than a week of public debate in the Legislature.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office spearheaded the bill, AB1054, which aims to create a new fund of at least $21 billion to compensate victims of wildfires caused by power lines, require utilities to get annual safety certifications and shift the standard regulators follow when deciding whether an electric company can make its customers pay for fire costs.
Despite its complexity and longterm consequences, the bill has sailed through the Leg
A federal judge has ordered Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to respond paragraph by paragraph to a recent news report that described ways in which the embattled company failed to properly maintain its electric system, despite being aware that its power lines could ignite dangerous wildfires.
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that PG&E knew parts of its system were outdated and did not repair or replace them, including the highvoltage power line running through Butte County that started last year’s Camp Fire, the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in state history.
In response, U.S. District Judge William Alsup said PG&E must file a public statement with the court by July 31 “stating the extent to which each paragraph is accurate.” Alsup is overseeing the probation imposed on PG&E after it was found guilty on charges stemming from the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion. The judge recently expanded his oversight to include the utility’s role in recent wildfires.
Alsup said PG&E must limit its response to 40 pages. “In the past, (PG&E) has responded to some of the Court’s questions by filing thousands of records and leaving it to the judge to find the needles in the haystacks,” Alsup said in his order. “This time, the offender must provide a fresh, forthright statement owning up to the true extent of the Wall Street Journal report.”
PG&E said it was still reviewing Alsup’s order and said its “most important responsibility is the safety of our customers and the communities we serve.”
Alsup also demanded PG&E outline the full amounts and recipients of its millions of dollars in campaign contributions and explain why those political contributions were more important to the utility than repairing antiquated power lines, and explain why it distributed almost $5 billion in dividends before filing for bankruptcy protection even as it knew of aging transmission lines and a backlog in the removal of hazardous trees near its facilities.