SACRAMENTO, California — A quasi-public California agency is urging sweeping changes to the state’s electric utility and property insurance systems to avoid escalating wildfire costs, according to a new report released Tuesday.
What happened: The report, commissioned by lawmakers last year under SB 254 and produced by the California Earthquake Authority, the agency/organization that administers the state’s wildfire fund, lays out a broad set of policy options aimed at stabilizing a system strained by climate-driven disasters, ranging from utility liability reforms to state-backed insurance programs.
The report stops short of endorsing a single approach, instead leaving lawmakers to weigh potentially painful trade-offs over who should bear the growing costs of wildfires. It does warn that inaction will carry steep consequences as climate change and development in fire-prone areas outpace the state’s ability to respond.
California Earthquake Authority CEO Tom Welsh said the roughly seven-month report process underscored how interconnected the state’s wildfire, energy and insurance challenges have become.
