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Assembly oversight hearing highlights $27 billion in utility wildfire spending and effects on California bills
Summary
Lawmakers and regulators told an Assembly committee that investor‑owned utilities have spent roughly $27 billion on wildfire mitigation over the past five years, a major driver of recent residential rate increases, and discussed whether some wildfire costs should be shifted off utility ratepayers.
The California State Assembly Committee on Utilities and Energy opened an oversight hearing on utility wildfire spending, hearing testimony that investor‑owned utilities have spent about $27,000,000,000 on wildfire mitigation over the last five years and that those investments have been a central driver of recent electric rate increases.
Committee Chair Petrie‑Norris said the hearing was part of a four‑session series on energy affordability and that members would scrutinize whether wildfire mitigation should continue to be funded through customer rates. “This hearing … is to examine these growing utility wildfire costs, to understand what measures have proven to be most effective,” she said.
Witnesses described the mechanics of rate recovery and the scale of recent utility spending. Forrest Kayser, chief deputy…
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