Consumer, environmental, environmental justice groups respond to state wildfire cost report; demand action to protect California families

New report finds “the status quo is not working” — shows failure of California’s current system for managing wildfire costs for ratepayers and wildfire survivors

SACRAMENTO – The California Earthquake Authority released the SB 254 Natural Catastrophe Resiliency Study — a sweeping report commissioned by the Legislature and Governor Newsom following the January 2025 Los Angeles fires. The report makes clear that the current system for managing wildfire costs is failing ratepayers: electricity bills have risen more than 37% since 2020 and wildfire-related charges now add $41 per month to the average PG&E bill. The report finds that without structural reform, there is no endpoint to the current trajectory, driving rate increases that will far surpass the projected rate of inflation. The same broken system is also failing wildfire survivors, who wait years for compensation while the legal costs consume a significant portion of whatever recovery they ultimately receive.

California environmental, environmental justice, and consumer groups are calling on the California Legislature and Governor Newsom to prioritize reforms that rein in utility costs, strengthen accountability, and protect the millions of Californians who cannot afford to keep absorbing wildfire costs on their monthly electricity bills. Advocates also note that the report’s call for diversified funding sources should include contributions from the fossil fuel industry, whose products have directly contributed to the climate conditions fueling catastrophic wildfire risk.

Consumer, environmental, environmental justice groups released the following quotes in response:

“Californians shouldn’t be paying for a system where wildfire costs are socialized, but profits remain guaranteed, and the SB 254 report makes clear just how much we have to do, from ratepayer bills to insurance markets to the systems meant to help survivors rebuild. California is right to take the growing financial risks of climate-driven disasters seriously, but a plan to share costs is not the same as a plan to reduce them,” said Jose Torres from the Affordable Energy Campaign. “When we spread costs without reforming the underlying incentives that drive them, we risk locking in a system where bills keep climbing, and families are left holding the tab. As policymakers consider next steps, resilience and affordability must go hand in hand with clear accountability for utility spending, guardrails on cost pass-throughs, holding fossil fuel companies accountable, and a laser focus on reducing system costs at their source.”

“California’s broken utility system forces families to bankroll utility profits and pay a ‘double tax’ – first with our homes when disasters strike and again with our wallets when our bills skyrocket,” said Ayn Craciun, Orange County Policy Director, Climate Action Campaign. “It’s time to end this injustice and prioritize the lowest-cost safety measures over utility profits.”

“For too long, California has forced ratepayers to carry the risk while investor-owned utilities pocket the rewards, no matter what disasters they cause,” said Travis Gibrael, Research and Education Organizer with Reclaim Our Power: Utility Justice Campaign. “The state cannot keep bailing out utilities found liable for catastrophic wildfires. Public money should mean public ownership, real accountability, and a path to transforming utilities to serve people not profits.”

“The Wildfire Study Report provides California policy makers with a roadmap to invest in wildfire risk reduction, protect utility ratepayers from unlimited wildfire liability, provide prompt compensation to wildfire survivors, and establish the state as the insurer of last resort to insure that damages above ratepayer liabilities are covered,” remarked Mark Toney, Executive Director of TURN–The Utility Reform Network.

“The report highlights and unfortunately seems to prioritize the need for “fiscally sound utilities.” Unfortunately, prior wildfires have resulted in unchecked and unaudited spending that focussed on generating utility profits,” said John Smigelski, Program Director for the California Alliance for Community Energy. “Fiscally responsible control of utility spending is what is needed to protect ratepayers. This needs to start with an audit of prior wildfire spending.”

“The rising cost of electricity and insurance has severe impacts on low-income people who are forced to pay a higher proportion of their paychecks to corporations who enjoy higher profit totals year over year,” said Julia Dowell, Senior Campaign Organizer at Sierra Club. “Moreover, struggling Californians are forced to bear the risk of wildfire costs, rather than utilities whose profits continue to increase. Without addressing these problems equitably, California risks further driving income inequality, making housing even less affordable, and allowing shareholders to extract more revenue from hardworking people.”

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