Overview
- Governor Gavin Newsom circulated draft legislation on July 31 to bolster the state’s Wildfire Fund after warnings it could be exhausted by January’s Eaton and Palisades fires
- The plan would impose a new surcharge on electricity customers to raise $9 billion, matched by $9 billion from Edison International, PG&E and Sempra shareholders
- Draft language calls for extending the fund’s sunset from 2035 to 2045 and mandates a study on spreading wildfire risk costs across California taxpayers
- Newsom’s office is pushing caps on insurers’ subrogation claims to curb high settlements that critics say are depleting the fund
- The proposal faces utility and insurer opposition and must win legislative approval when lawmakers reconvene on August 18