Wildfire victims decry state law protecting utilities from cost of disasters they cause

"Southern California Edison says that with the help of those state laws it expects to pay little or even none of the damage costs of the Eaton fire, which its equipment is suspected of sparking. But in recent filings to state officials, fire victims and consumer advocates say the law has gone too far and made the utilities' unaccountable for their mistakes, leading to even more fires. "What do you think will happen if you constantly protect perpetrators of fires," said Joy Chen, executive director of the Eaton Fire Survivors Network."

"If government investigators find Edison's equipment ignited the Eaton fire, at least seven of the state's 20 most destructive wildfires would have been caused by the three utilities' equipment. The debate over how far the state should go to protect the electric companies from the cost of utility-sparked wildfires is playing out in Sacramento at the California Earthquake Authority. The authority is managing a broad study, ordered by Gov. Gavin Newsom, aimed at determining how to better protect Californians from catastrophic wildfires. Chen said she was concerned by a meeting this month that she and another survivor had been invited to by authority officials and consultants they had hired to work on the study. She said a primary focus of the discussion was how to shield utilities and their shareholders from the damages of future fires, rather than on the costs to survivors and other Californians "living with the consequences of utility-caused fires.""

A year after the Eaton fire, survivors and California's major investor-owned electric utilities are clashing over whether state law should continue to shield companies from wildfire damage costs. Southern California Edison anticipates paying little or none of Eaton fire damages under existing laws while victims and consumer advocates argue those protections remove utility accountability and encourage further fires. Utilities are pressing for expanded legal shields to reassure investors. If investigators confirm Edison equipment started the Eaton fire, utilities' gear would account for at least seven of the state's 20 most destructive wildfires. The California Earthquake Authority is managing a state-ordered study on wildfire protections.

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