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California senators probe $36 billion wildfire fund options, weighing ratepayer costs and liability reforms
Summary
A Senate informational hearing on the SB 254 resiliency study examined options to make California's wildfire fund durable — including larger capital, risk transfer, state backstops and liability reform — and highlighted sharp disagreements over who should shoulder costs and how survivors should be paid promptly.
Chair Allen opened an informational hearing of the California State Senate on the SB 254 natural catastrophe resiliency study, framing the session as the first of several reviews that will examine how to make the state's wildfire fund more durable in the wake of recent catastrophic utility-caused fires.
The hearing featured a presentation from the California Earthquake Authority and its consultants, who laid out three policy pathways and a set of options for funding and governance. Tom Welsh, CEO of the California Earthquake Authority, described the fund's origins under AB 1054 and told the committee the report evaluated a spectrum of policy approaches without endorsing a single outcome.
Dr. Lori Johnson summarized three policy pathways: (1) continue and strengthen mitigation investments, (2) equitably allocate catastrophe burdens across insurers, utilities and the public, and (3) consider…
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