Committee sends wildfire ‘‘standard of care’’ bill to the floor after debate over liability and coverage

The House State Affairs Committee voted 11–3 to send Senate Bill 1183 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation after extended testimony and debate over liability limits and what damages victims could recover.

Representative Judy Boyle (R., District 9) sponsored the measure, describing it as “a proactive bill to try to prevent wildfire” by requiring electric utilities — investor-owned, municipal and consumer-owned cooperatives — to prepare wildfire mitigation plans. Under the bill, utilities that file plans with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) would be subject to PUC review and the State Forester would participate in that review. The bill adopts a “rebuttable presumption” tied to a commission-approved plan: if a utility can show it complied with the approved mitigation plan, the presumption weighs in the utility’s favor; if plaintiffs can show the utility caused the fire or otherwise rebut the presumption, traditional claims remain…