(California) 'All in this together.' Newsom says protect utilities, spread costs of future wildfires

Source: Sacramento Bee

‘All in this together.’ Newsom says protect utilities, spread costs of future wildfires

BY DALE KASLER
APRIL 12, 2019 11:00 AM, UPDATED APRIL 12, 2019 04:08 PM

Saying the costs of wildfires must be spread more broadly as climate change worsens, Gov. Gavin Newsom said California must consider dramatic changes in California law Friday to give bankrupt PG&E and other big utilities greater legal protection against liabilities that can spiral into the billions of dollars.

Releasing a wide-ranging suite of proposals from a “strike force” he created two months ago, Newsom stopped short of endorsing what is likely the most controversial recommendation: a shuffling of costs that would likely take money from insurance companies and utility ratepayers, while potentially trimming damage payouts to wildfire victims and their lawyers. So far the Legislature, angered by the wildfires blamed on PG&E, has shown little appetite for letting utilities off the hook for wildfire damages and explicitly rejected a similar recommendation last year.

But Newsom, calling for swift action from the Legislature, said changes to the liability laws must be under consideration.

“Everyone wants everyone else to pay for it,” Newsom said as he gestured to a slide showing the billions of wildfire damages incurred the past two years. “We’re all in this together .... We all have a burden and a responsibility.”

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Read more: https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article229153379.html