{"id":41266,"date":"2026-08-12T17:25:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T12:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=41266"},"modified":"2026-08-12T17:25:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T12:25:32","slug":"senator-deeply-troubled-by-utility-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=41266","title":{"rendered":"Senator &#8216;deeply troubled&#8217; by utility threats"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/d75fa86\/2147483647\/strip\/false\/crop\/4716x3144+0+0\/resize\/1500x1000!\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F84%2Fbb%2F6d6d59574dcaa659e6483564796a%2F1489913-me-fire-air-quality-jja-005.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div data-element=\"story-body\" data-subscriber-content=\"\">\n<p>The chair of the California Senate\u2019s utilities committee said Tuesday that he was \u201cdeeply troubled\u201d by electric company executives\u2019 recent threats to take action to protect their shareholders if they don\u2019t get legislation in Sacramento to limit their wildfire liabilities. <\/p>\n<p>In a letter to Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas &amp; Electric, Sen. Benjamin Allen (D-Santa Monica) wrote that he was considering calling the utility executives to an oversight hearing to have them explain their plans.<\/p>\n<p>Allen sent the letter after <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/business\/story\/2026-08-05\/utilities-threaten-action-if-lawmakers-fail-to-cut-their-wildfire-liability-risk\"><u>the Times reported<\/u><\/a> that the two companies\u2019 top executives promised their investors in recent conference calls that they planned to respond if they don\u2019t get legislation for which they have been lobbying. Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers are <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/business\/story\/2026-07-21\/wildfire-survivors-angered-as-utility-funded-group-claims-to-represent-them\"><u>working behind closed doors <\/u><\/a>on a package of wildfire bills.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile I understand that utility investors seek predictability for their invested dollars, and stable utilities are important to the state of California, we as legislators must balance the additional interests of wildfire victims and survivors, our residents\u2019 ability to access affordable insurance, and the need to ensure affordable utility service,\u201d Allen wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are certainly not interested in being threatened as we seek a balanced path that is right for California,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n<p>In response to the letter, PG&amp;E and Edison said Tuesday night that The Times had \u201cmischaracterized\u201d their executives\u2019 comments to investors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPG&amp;E\u2019s objectives remain unchanged: safely and reliably serve our customers, ensure wildfire victims are compensated quickly and fairly, and protect customer affordability,\u201d PG&amp;E said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Edison declined to comment further.<\/p>\n<p>Besides chairing the Senate\u2019s Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee, Allen also is running in November\u2019s election to be the state\u2019s next insurance commissioner.<\/p>\n<p>Newsom and lawmakers already passed legislation that cut the state\u2019s three biggest electric companies\u2019 liabilities for wildfires. Edison\u2019s shareholders, for example, <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/environment\/story\/2025-10-18\/edison-benefits-from-fine-print-in-newsoms-last-minute-utility-legislation\"><u>may pay little of the billions of dollars<\/u><\/a> of damage from last year\u2019s devastating Eaton fire \u2014 which killed 19 people and left thousands of families in Altadena homeless \u2014 under current laws championed by Newsom to protect the utilities from bankruptcy.<\/p>\n<p>The utilities say more needs to be done. Among the recommendations in a report ordered by Newsom is limiting the amounts that victims can receive for pain and suffering and capping the fees of attorneys who represent them.<\/p>\n<p>The commissioned report also suggested that utilities should no longer reimburse property insurers for damage from fires sparked by electrical equipment. Although this would reduce utilities\u2019 liability for fires, insurers say it would increase premiums for homeowners.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf the Legislature does not act, or if they act and don\u2019t actually solve the problem, then we\u2019re going to have to take action,\u201d Patti Poppe, PG&amp;E\u2019s chief executive, said on a July 23 call with Wall Street analysts.<\/p>\n<p>Poppe did not specify what her company would do, but made it clear that any action would protect shareholders\u2019 money.<\/p>\n<p>In earlier conversations with analysts, PG&amp;E executives had \u201calluded to the possibility of opportunistic share repurchases should the legislative process fail to deliver a more durable wildfire liability framework,\u201d according to a report by the bank Jeffries.<\/p>\n<p>Such buybacks could raise the company\u2019s stock price and benefit shareholders while reducing money available for the utility\u2019s California programs.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, Pedro Pizarro, chief executive of Edison International, told Wall Street analysts on a conference call that he too was prepared to make financial changes if the Legislature does not pass a comprehensive bill to cut the utilities\u2019 financial wildfire risk before the legislative session ends Aug. 31.<\/p>\n<p>Any legislation that passes without a protective framework for utilities, Pizarro said, would \u201cinfluence how we prioritize and deploy future capital.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pizarro declined analysts\u2019 requests to say where the company would cut back, but said  the utility would continue spending aimed at keeping its grid safe and reliable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to evaluate the totality of the package that comes to us and figure out our response that goes along with it,\u201d Pizarro said.<\/p>\n<p>This month, state and county officials <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2026-08-04\/edison-tower-eaton-fire-cause\"><u>released their investigation<\/u><\/a> into the Eaton fire, blaming the deadly inferno on Edison\u2019s century-old transmission line that the company kept in place even though it hadn\u2019t carried electricity since 1971.<\/p>\n<p>Utilities have long known that idle lines could spark fires. In 2019, the Kincade fire in Sonoma County, which destroyed hundreds of homes, was ignited by an old, unused transmission line owned by PG&amp;E.<\/p>\n<p>At least seven of the 20 most destructive fires in California history have been sparked by the three biggest for-profit utilities.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The chair of the California Senate\u2019s utilities committee said Tuesday that he was \u201cdeeply troubled\u201d by electric company executives\u2019 recent threats to take action to protect their shareholders if they don\u2019t get legislation in Sacramento to limit their wildfire liabilities. In a letter to Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas &amp; Electric, Sen. Benjamin Allen&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/47466b2\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4716x2476+0+334\/resize\/1200x630!\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F84%2Fbb%2F6d6d59574dcaa659e6483564796a%2F1489913-me-fire-air-quality-jja-005.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}