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Wildfire survivors say many remain unpaid; call for full compensation and better public access to hearings
Summary
A wildfire survivor testified that thousands of victims have not received full compensation from past utility‑caused fires and urged the committee to preserve survivors' claims while it considers broader statewide funding and response measures. The witness also urged remote public comment access for committee hearings.
Public comment at the close of the hearing focused on survivors’ compensation and public participation in legislative oversight.
Will Abrams, who identified himself as a wildfire survivor from February, told the committee that “70,000 of us are still waiting to be paid” and urged lawmakers to ensure that legislative responses to recent fires do not bypass survivors still seeking full recovery from earlier events. Abrams said survivors remain shortchanged and that “it is very hard for us to look at all the additional commitments that are being made through the legislation now to bypass us.”
Abrams also urged the committee to allow remote public comment so more affected Californians can participate. He said in‑person or letter submissions are not an adequate substitute for live testimony by people directly affected by wildfire losses.
The committee record also included a public comment from Allison Hilliard of The Climate Center, who urged greater use of distributed energy resources and microgrids as lower‑cost and resilient alternatives that could both reduce the need for new long‑distance lines and help communities maintain power during outages.
Lawmakers acknowledged the survivors’ remarks and said they intended to consider compensation and fairness issues as part of the broader affordability and funding review. No committee action on survivor claims was taken at the hearing.
