Assembly panel presses utilities on public-safety power shutoffs, restoration and rebuild after January wildfires

The California State Assembly Committee on Utilities and Energy met for an oversight hearing on utility wildfire preparedness and response, focusing on the use of public-safety power shutoffs, coordination with emergency responders and plans to rebuild damaged infrastructure after the January wind-and-wildfire events.

Committee Chair Tina Petrie-Norris opened the hearing by citing the January storms that produced “sustained winds of significant magnitude” and prompted broad PSPS events, and she invited testimony from state and utility officials about what worked, what failed, and what should change.

The hearing featured testimony from Rachel Peterson, executive director of the California Public Utilities Commission; Lee Palmer, director of the CPUC’s Safety and Enforcement Division; Rajeev Roy, vice president of transmission, substation and operations at Southern California Edison (SCE); Tom Porter, director of emergency management at San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E); and Jason Rondeau, assistant general manager of power planning and operations at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP).

Why it matters

Lawmakers and local officials pressed utilities and regulators for clearer public communications, better targeting of shutoffs and faster, more durable restoration in communities that lost service for days. The hearing also explored whether decommissioned or “idle” lines played a role in ignitions under investigation in the Eaton and Pacific Palisades fires, and how rebuilding decisions—undergrounding, higher distribution voltages and expanded resilience programs—should be funded.

What officials said

Rachel Peterson said the CPUC enforces a three-part oversight system: setting wildfire mitigation rules, monitoring utility preparedness and investigating possible violations. Lee Palmer described PSPS as “an operational decision by the electric utilities” meant to be “a tool of last resort executed to reduce the risk of utility-ignited wildfires,” and said the CPUC’s Safety and Enforcement Division monitors PSPS events and may issue notices of violation and other enforcement measures after review.

Representing SCE, Rajeev Roy described the January event as SCE’s largest PSPS to date and said about 747,000 customers were placed “in scope” for potential shutoff; SCE estimates 400,000 customers experienced one or more deenergizations. Roy said crews found more than 50 conditions during post-event patrols that “could have led to an ignition” and that SCE mobilized roughly 3,500 personnel for restoration, replacing about 122 miles of conductor, setting more than 1,500 poles and installing over 500 transformers as of mid-February.

Tom Porter of SDG&E described the company’s long experience with PSPS and granular weather modeling. He said SDG&E used 30-second weather reads and other tools to narrow shutoff scope, and that in the January event the utility had about 77,000 customers in scope and a peak deenergization of about 20,000 customers. Porter called PSPS a mechanism “to be used as a last resort” and stressed the need to harden the grid so shutoffs become rarer.

Jason Rondeau said no investigative authority had identified LADWP equipment as a source of ignition in the Palisades fire. He described LADWP’s wildfire mitigation measures—transmission vegetation management, targeted recloser blocking in higher-risk tiers, and large mobilizations for restoration—and said LADWP is pursuing a third-party incident review with a preliminary report in about 30 days and a final report within roughly 180 days.

Questions from committee members, local officials and public commenters

Members pushed utilities on inconsistent notifications and poor local communication during PSPS events. Assemblymember Patrick O. Erwin and others said local governments and residents lacked clear, timely information about when power would be turned off and when it would be restored. Roy and other utility witnesses agreed that communication needs improvement and said after-action reviews will assess where notices and coordination failed.

Several members raised media and community reports that an idle or abandoned transmission line may have had a role in at least one ignition. CPUC witnesses and utility panelists cautioned that investigations are open and fact-specific. Lee Palmer noted that in past cases the CPUC’s enforcement actions have addressed abandoned lines when investigations showed a causal connection. The committee asked whether utilities maintain registries of idle or abandoned lines; CPUC staff said no statewide public registry exists today and that they would look into available data.

Costs, tradeoffs and rebuilding

Panelists and CPUC staff agreed undergrounding reduces ignition risk but is costly and time-consuming. Peterson summarized cost estimates included in a CPUC filing: recent utility submissions put distribution undergrounding at roughly $2.3 million to $5.6 million per mile in high-fire-threat districts; staff noted a high-voltage transmission undergrounding example reported by a utility at about $139 million per mile. Rondeau and Roy said rebuilding in badly damaged areas presents an opportunity to underground where feasible; LADWP estimated Palisades electric infrastructure rebuild costs could range “between $500 million and $1 billion.”

Panelists proposed a range of policy approaches to reduce PSPS reliance: targeted undergrounding in the most frequently affected circuits, covered conductor where practical, sectionalization and enhanced situational awareness, expanded community resiliency sites (solar + storage), and additional funding sources beyond ratepayers for large capital projects.

Regulatory and enforcement process

Peterson and Palmer outlined the CPUC process: utilities file pre- and post-season PSPS reports and must conduct exercises; post-event reports trigger CPUC review, data requests and, where appropriate, notices of violation and enforcement actions. The CPUC has pursued enforcement in prior PSPS-related cases and said enforcement choices depend on the gravity of violations and the utility’s conduct and history.

Public comment and local government input

San Bernardino County officials told the committee PSPS events remain necessary in some areas but said prolonged and repeated outages create severe hardships for medically vulnerable residents, businesses and local emergency operations. The county asked utilities to play a more visible role supporting community response and resource centers during extended outages.

What the hearing did not decide

There were no votes or formal regulatory decisions at the hearing. Multiple investigations are ongoing; CPUC and utility witnesses repeatedly stated they could not comment on active investigations and requested due process while staff and outside investigators review causes and utility performance.

What’s next

Committee members pressed utilities for detailed after-action reports and said the legislature will hold additional hearings, including sessions focused specifically on affordability of rate increases tied to wildfire mitigation. Utilities said they will produce internal and independent reviews, and the CPUC said it will continue post-event audits and enforcement as its investigations conclude.

Ending

Lawmakers said they will continue to monitor PSPS execution, restoration progress and the pace of rebuilding, and they signaled interest in exploring funding tools that would reduce the reliance on ratepayer payments for large-scale undergrounding and resilience projects.