Assembly hearing examines $27 billion in utility wildfire spending and debates who should pay

The Assembly Committee on Utilities and Energy convened an oversight hearing to examine utility wildfire spending, its effect on residential bills and alternative ways to finance wildfire mitigation.

The hearing featured witnesses from the California Public Utilities Commission, the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety, investor-owned and publicly owned utilities, local fire chiefs, university researchers and fiscal analysts. Committee Chair Petrie Norris opened the session saying California's three large investor-owned utilities have invested "$27,000,000,000 over the last 5 years in wildfire mitigation," and that these investments are a major driver of recent rate increases.

Why it matters: Lawmakers said they want wildfire risk reduction to continue, but raised questions about affordability and whether ratepayers should continue to fund the bulk of mitigation. Witnesses and analysts described a mix of operational and capital approaches — from operational controls known as "fast trip" to large-scale undergrounding — and debated how to prioritize and pay for them.

Panelists described how wildfire mitigation spending shows up in utility rates. Forrest Kayser, chief deputy executive director at the California Public Utilities Commission, said many wildfire programs are captured in distribution costs…