Battle centers on utilities' fire liability

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California lawmakers who vowed to craft a plan to address the growing danger of wildfires this summer knew they'd spend a lot of time talking about life and death. Few may have known how much time they would spend talking about the survival of electric utility companies.

In public and private discussions at the state Capitol, a pitched battle is underway over how much slack the Legislature should - or can - provide for the state's utility companies facing liability under a strict standard they have been held to for more than a half-century. Industry representatives have warned that those rules, combined with the forecast