A group claiming to represent California fire survivors began sending mailers and paying for social media ads this spring, calling on lawmakers to take action to reduce the rising cost of wildfires.<\/p>\n
\u201cContact your legislator and tell them we need to fix our wildfire problem to make California more affordable,\u201d said a mailer sent this month by the group called Wildfire Victims First.<\/p>\n
\u201cStand with wildfire victims,\u201d the group\u2019s website<\/a> states, urging people to join its cause.<\/p>\n The group was created with money from California\u2019s three biggest for-profit electric utilities \u2014 Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric \u2014 which government investigators found ignited at least six of the state\u2019s 20 most destructive wildfires.<\/p>\n The corporate campaign has angered wildfire survivors, including some of the thousands of families in Altadena who lost their homes in last year\u2019s Eaton fire. The blaze, which killed 19 people, remains under investigation. Edison has said its century-old transmission line is the likely cause.<\/p>\n The utility-funded group is lobbying in Sacramento for proposals in a study that Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered to guide lawmakers in writing wildfire-related bills. The study largely ignored utilities\u2019 responsibility for igniting fires.<\/p>\n Among its dozens of proposals is limiting amounts victims can get for pain and suffering, capping fees for attorneys representing survivors and requiring property insurers to bear more of the cost of utility-sparked fires.<\/p>\n \u201dEach proposal would shift more of the cost of catastrophic fires away from the corporations responsible and onto survivors, policyholders, taxpayers, and the public,\u201d wrote Joy Chen of Every Fire Survivor\u2019s Network in a letter to Newsom<\/a> this week.<\/p>\n Chen wrote that the industry-funded Wildfire Victims First campaign \u201ccreated the appearance that wildfire survivors supported\u201d the findings of the study. \u201cWe do not.\u201d<\/p>\n The 15-page letter was signed by other organizations including Public Citizen, Consumer Watchdog and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.<\/p>\n The coalition is urging Newsom and lawmakers to do more to hold utilities accountable for the fires they ignite, so they don\u2019t happen again.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Eaton fire devastated Altadena, home to one of California\u2019s most historic Black communities,\u201d said Brandon Lamar, president of NAACP Pasadena, who signed the letter. \u201cNow as survivors fight to rebuild, they should not be asked to bear the cost of protecting the corporations whose failures devastated their community.\u201d<\/p>\n Edison told its shareholders in its annual report that it believes it acted as a \u201creasonable\u201d utility operator before the fire. If state regulators agree it acted reasonably, Edison will be reimbursed for payments it makes to victims by a $21-billion wildfire fund, which Newsom created through legislation in 2019.<\/p>\n And if Eaton fire damages exceed the $21-billion fund, Edison\u2019s customers will pay the rest through their electric rates under fine print embedded<\/a> in last year\u2019s Senate Bill 254 \u2014 amendments that Newsom and lawmakers added so late that the legislative session had to be extended.<\/p>\n State Sen. Sasha Renee Perez, a Democrat who represents Altadena, said she opposed any bill that would limit payments to victims for pain and suffering.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t think of a more offensive thing to propose when I have friends who lost family members in the fire,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Anthony Martinez, a spokesperson for Newsom, said the governor and lawmakers were talking about new legislation because the study \u201cconcluded that the current system is unsustainable and not working for fire survivors, utility customers or insurance policyholders.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s essential that we work to address the complex and interconnected challenges Californians face from the increasing risk of catastrophic wildfire,\u201d Martinez said.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t disclose what specific measures the governor supports.<\/p>\n Nathan Click, who directs the corporate Wildfire Victims First campaign, said that the group launched after the study found that \u201cpayouts to financial middlemen \u2014 like trial attorneys, hedge funds and insurance companies \u2014 are often paid out before wildfire victims receive a single dollar.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShockingly, trial attorneys can take up to 40% of wildfire victims\u2019 settlement awards,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Click said the group was advocating for legislation that reduces wildfire risk, expands access to affordable property insurance and ensures quick compensation to victims.<\/p>\n The utility-paid campaign has been joined by electrical worker unions, a powerful force in Sacramento, as well as the California Building Industry Assn. and dozens of other groups.<\/p>\n The Eaton fire was the second most destructive wildfire in state history.<\/p>\n Pedro Pizarro, Edison International\u2019s chief executive, said last year that a leading theory<\/a> of the fire\u2019s cause was that an idle transmission line in Eaton Canyon was briefly reenergized through a process called induction, sparking the fire. Induction happens when the magnetic field of a nearby live wire causes power to jump to inactive equipment.<\/p>\n Edison kept the idle transmission line in place despite not using it for 50 years. The state\u2019s utilities had known about the risks of leaving unused equipment in place. In 2019, the Kincade fire in Sonoma County, which destroyed hundreds of homes, was ignited by an idle transmission line owned by PG&E.<\/p>\n Despite the billions of dollars in damages caused by the Eaton fire, Edison\u2019s profits soared<\/a> last year by more than 200% \u2014 from $1.3 billion in 2024 to $4.5 billion.<\/p>\n