Governor Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders struck a deal on wildfire liability over the weekend. The final proposal leaves out a lot of what Newsom pushed for.
Newsom wanted to limit how much utilities have to pay when their equipment sparks destructive wildfires, to protect them from fiscal insolvency.
He also wanted to limit insurance companies’ ability to recover costs from utilities and cap some damages for fire survivors. The deal announced was instead much narrower.
"As far as we’re concerned it’s kind of a big nothing burger," said Jamie Court, who heads Consumer Watchdog.
The final agreement bans private equity groups from profiting off wildfire claims and forbids bonuses for utility CEOs during the years their company starts a fatal fire. But insurance companies and local governments can still recover costs.
"The governor, basically, he suffered a complete loss on everything he really wanted that was devastating to our constituents, to fire survivors, to consumers, to policyholders, and to the rights of local governments AKA taxpayers, to collect damages," said Court.
The plan also attempts to make sure fire survivors can get compensated on a speedier timeline. Democratic Senator Sasha Renee Perez says the legislature was key in negotiating a proposal fire survivors could accept.
"I feel like both the Senate and the Assembly were really receptive to the concerns of fire survivors and particularly fire survivors from my community in Altadena," said Perez.
Lawmakers are expected to vote on the final proposal Tuesday.