Power Companies Want To Shift Their Liability To Property Owners
Written by 991KBU on July 16, 2018
The statewide investigative reporting effort Calmatters is out with an analysis on wildfires … and who will pay for damages when power lines destroy property.
With Malibu poised to enter what firefighters call one of the most-dangerous fire seasons ever … what is happening in Sacramento has huge consequences here.
Last year’s historic fires and mudslides destroyed about 10,000 buildings and killed at least 66 people.
A a special legislative committee has been formed to create new laws aimed at preventing wildfires and improving the response to them.
Southern California Edison and other electric companies are hoping to use that effort … to give them indemnity from causing damage.
CalMatters reports that interest groups with huge clout are gearing up.
On one side are power companies that supply electricity to Californians and campaign cash to politicians.
Their allies include an influential union representing electrical workers, and some environmentalists who see utilities as key players in California’s fight against climate change. On the other side stand different moneyed interests with their own political juice: insurance companies, plaintiffs’ lawyers and a coalition of fire victims that includes local governments and well-to-do homeowners.
Under longstanding law … power companies have to pay for damage caused by their lines … when they fail in windstorms.
They want out of that responsibility.
The utilities argue that climate change contributes to new wildfire danger.
And they say liability rules should reflect a “new normal” that involves removing the risk from power companies … to property owners.
The California Public Utilities Commission agrees with
