California lawmakers kill wildfire bill after utility complaints

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Set us as preferred Legislation that would have helped wildfire victims receive compensation more quickly, but that utilities said didn’t do enough to reduce their financial risks, died in Sacramento on Tuesday after the Assembly declined to vote on it.The failure of Senate Bill 492 disappointed wildfire victims and lawmakers who had negotiated the language in a last-minute deal with Gov.Gavin Newsom.“It is unfortunate that SB 492 was not given a vote,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Monique Limon (D-Santa Barbara).

“Thousands of survivors made their voices clear — they needed reform to ensure the next wildfire does not continue to cause the mental and financial stress that recent disasters have placed on Californians.”The bill’s failure was a win for the state’s three biggest for-profit utilities.Lawmakers say they will now continue working on reforms that Newsom had been pushing for, including limiting how much utilities have to pay for fires sparked by their equipment.

Business In a late-night deal with lawmakers, Gov.Gavin Newsom agreed to drop his push for legislation that would have shifted more of the cost of utility-sparked wildfires to property insurers, which could have sharply raised premiums across the state.Share prices of Edison International and Pacific Gas & Electric had plummeted Monday after their investors learned that SB 492 did not include transferring more of the cost of utility-sparked fires to property insurers, a measure Newsom had proposed.Insurers had warned the proposal could raise premiums by as much as 50%.On Tuesday, with the failure of SB 492, the two companies’ stock recovered.

Edison’s share price climbed nearly 9% to close at $58.80.PG&E’s shares rose 6% to $14.06.The top executives of the two companies had written to legislative leaders Monday, calling on ...