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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 executive director of the California Public Utilities Commission, told the committee that distribution spending — where most wildfire‑mitigation costs like vegetation management appear — was the largest driver of recent cost increases and that the overall rate of growth in those costs had slowed in the last year as some event‑related costs rolled out of rates.
Carla Peterman, Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s executive vice president and chief sustainability officer, said IOUs now spend roughly $6,000,000,000 per year on wildfire prevention while the state typically contributes under $500,000,000 annually. Peterman said PG&E expects electric rates to stabilize in 2025 and that average electric bills are lower than a year earlier, but she added: “We also recognize that delivering this value has led to a steep increase in rates, and that has been challenging for many.”
Panelists and members cited concrete bill impacts. The committee heard estimates that wildfire mitigation costs raised monthly residential bills by about $24 for PG&E customers, $18 for Edison customers and $13 for SDG&E customers.
Speakers also described cost‑containment measures overseen by regulators. Kayser said CPUC‑authorized strategies such as utility self‑insurance and securitization have produced savings for ratepayers — self‑insurance an estimated $467,000,000 from 2018–2023 and six securitizations from 2020–2024 an estimated $2,000,000,000 in savings — but that continued review is needed to align planning and spending.
The hearing mixed budget and technical discussion with policy choices. Assemblymember Bennett urged caution about disconnecting users from prices, saying any move away from rate funding would require a strong burden of proof to avoid market distortions. Others, including lawmakers and witnesses, discussed possible state roles to reduce rate pressure, including targeted state funding, refinancing of past vegetation costs and improved coordination across agencies to lower permitting delays and project costs.
The committee did not vote on legislation at the hearing. Members said the oversight session would inform future hearings and possible legislative proposals on affordability, cost recovery and regulatory alignment.
Looking ahead, the committee plans additional hearings on affordability and utility costs where members said they will probe both technical mitigations and the broader question of whether and how to shift some wildfire costs away from ratepayers.
