Wildfire Reform

This Session: Legislators Need to Solve the Wildfire Policy Crisis

Cannot keep coming back to ratepayers every four or five years, asking them to extend contributions to the Wildfire Fund past 2045. Ratepayers have already paid $53 billion. ($14 billion for 2019 wildfire fund (AB 1054), estimated $12 billion for 2025 wildfire fund (SB 254), $27 billion in 2019–2024 wildfire mitigation costs)

Include SB 905, SB 1098, AB 2338, and SB 886 to provide ratepayer relief, reduce utility overspending, and hold utilities accountable for safety.

Wildfire survivors have been waiting too long to get their claims paid, and then often getting short-changed, resulting in skyrocketing utility bills and skyrocketing property insurance bills.

(This is a preliminary list of ratepayer protection proposals. When the draft Wildfire Reform bill language is released, we will have others to add.)

Protect the Wildfire Fund from subrogation claims from insurance companies and other third parties.
Set a cap on how much can be collected per incident, or per utility, for the lifetime of the Wildfire Fund through 2045.
Allocate state funds to cover wildfire survivors’ damages that exceed the cap.
Restore the requirement that utilities must prove they were not negligent in order to receive liability protection.
Restore the ability of external parties to participate in CPUC wildfire investigations before settlement

Support a State-managed fast pay facility to accelerate payments to survivors and
reduce litigation costs.
Make available a claims navigator to help applicants submit required documentation.

Create a state-sponsored insurance plan for all wildfires.
- Make property insurance mandatory, just like automobile insurance.
Explore revenue options to set up a $36 billion Wildfire Rainy Day Fund.
- Wildfire bonds, second home assessments, tax assessments, or increases.