California fire liability rule threatens renewable energy goals: panel

摘要

California's practice of holding utilities strictly liable for damages related to wildfires ignited by their equipment, whether or not the companies are found negligent, threatens not only utility shareholders, but also the state's ambitious climate and clean energy policies and must be reformed, according to a state-appointed panel on wildfire costs. The state's current approach to wildfire liability, shaped by the legal doctrine known as inverse condemnation, "imperils the viability of the state's utilities, customers' access to affordable energy and clean water, and the state's climate and clean energy goals," the Commission on Catastrophic Wildfire Cost and Recovery said in draft report released Wednesday. Strict liability also "does not equitably socialize the costs of utility-caused wildfires," the report added, recommending that it "be replaced with a fault-based standard." Lawmakers are looking to the recommendations of the commission, created by a 2018 law, to craft legislation this session. In addition to reforming wildfire liability, the commission also recommended the creation of a fund to pay the claims of wildfire victims. In recent testimony before a state Senate panel, a member of a wildfire solutions "strike force" created by Gov. Gavin Newsom suggested $40 billion as a possible fund size.