FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                             July 2, 2018

Contact: Darby Kernan
916-284-9872

The Legislature announced today the convening of a Legislative Conference Committee to discuss potential changes to laws related to wildfire liability.

Counties have strong concerns about retroactive and prospective changes to liability laws.  It is now more important than ever for the state, local governments and Utilities to plan, prepare and become more resilient to the threat of wildfire and other natural disasters. Current liability laws provide a strong incentive for utilities to ensure that all measures are taken to provide robust safety measures to protect the ratepayers and residents of the areas we collectively serve. 

We urge this Conference Committee to focus on positive changes to increase resiliency and safety requirements while not shifting liability to victims and local government.