Ventura County supervisors back state legislation to hold utilities accountable, seek aid for smaller disaster survivors

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Jan. 28 to sponsor and support proposed state legislation aimed at requiring investor-owned utilities to reimburse customers for losses during public-safety power shutoffs (PSPS), increase utility transparency and responsiveness during outages, and pursue a California State Individual Assistance (CSIA) program to provide relief when federal assistance is unavailable.

Supervisor John Garrell introduced the board letter, saying the measures grew out of months of emergency response following the mountain fire and subsequent extreme weather and power outages. He asked the board to "support these items specifically, and we are prepared to offer up the county of Ventura and the Board of Supervisors as named sponsors in any legislation to move this forward," adding that staff and board members would actively lobby Sacramento.

The board also voted to approve the county's proposed 2025-26 state and federal legislative agenda and platform with modifications requested by supervisors. The platform was revised to allow the county to act as sponsor on bills consistent with the platform and to add language supporting reasonably priced residential and commercial fire insurance and the continued viability of the California FAIR Plan.

Why it matters: County officials said recent wildfires and lengthy PSPS events have exposed gaps in how customers and first responders are protected and compensated, and left many residents without timely state or federal aid. Sponsor status gives Ventura County a formal role in shaping…