Close to Home: Wildfire plan puts ratepayers first

We have all learned hard lessons over the past few years as mega-wildfires have torn across our state, claiming lives and destroying homes. It is clear that we must adapt and respond to the effects of climate change and other causes that are driving these monster infernos. And we must act now.

Clearly, a new sense of urgency is needed to solve this existential problem. As leaders in Sacramento, we must adopt smart policy to keep our state safe and to prevent ratepayers from getting hit with the tremendous costs of these wildfires.

No plan is perfect. Neither is the wildfire situation we face as Californians. Climate change is driving more destructive fires than ever at a time when the state's largest utility, PG&E, has woefully ducked its responsibilities under state law.

But the wildfire protection plan unveiled Friday in the state Legislature represents a significant part of the solution. Among other things, it will compensate past and present victims, prevent future disasters and protect utility ratepayers from unfair increases.

Clearly, it's a lifeline for PG&E customers that will keep them above water as the company faces a rocky future in bankruptcy.

The proposal requires PG&E and the state's other two big utilities to pony up $5 billion to invest in safety improvements. Utilities won't be allowed to make a cent of profit from those expenses. The plan also creates a fund to help shield customers from costs of any future wildfires and the costs of capital that come with those risks.

It also mandates a strict, one-year, timeline for PG&E to emerge from Chapter 11, ensuring settlements are reached with all victims of 2017 and 2018 fires.

Not surprisingly, PG&E executives don't like this plan, which is the product of a deliberative and public process. Too bad. Our goal is not to make PG&E happy. And, frankly, I don't care if the company is scrapped and restructured under new ownership.

What I do care about - and what Gov. Gavin Newsom and I have been working on since he took office - is making fire victims whole and doing so without sticking it to ratepayers.

Make no mistake - this is not a utility bailout. It's a ratepayer bailout.

Doing nothing is not an option. By one estimate, utility rates could double under the status quo.

We took important steps last year, including strengthening our fire prevention and response capabilities. But there is still much to do.

As part of the solution, I've introduced a half-dozen wildfire safety bills of my own this year, including measures to place independent oversight of vegetation management around utility power lines, establish a statewide wildfire warning center and increase compliance with the state's 100-foot defensible space law. As chairman of a bipartisan select committee tasked with reviewing and vetting wildfire responses, I have worked with my state Senate colleagues and the governor to build this thoughtful, effective response to this looming problem.

Too often, our electric utility companies are to blame for the devastation. A recent investigation by Cal Fire found that the deadliest fire in state history - the 2018 Camp fire - was caused by transmission lines owned by PG&E.

Paradise is not the only town to suffer at the hands of utilities. Since 2015, California has endured 10 of the 20 most destructive wildfires in our history. And PG&E has been at fault on multiple occasions.

We must hold the company accountable. And we will insist that state regulators step up oversight and enforcement of companies like PG&E.

My focus remains on compensating victims, preventing new wildfires and preventing outrageous costs on ratepayers. There is no silver bullet for this problem, but the Legislature has a chance to make major strides toward those aims. And it couldn't come soon enough.

Bill Dodd, D-Napa, represents the 3rd state Senate District.

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