California utilities agree to pay $10.5 billion into new wildfire fund
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California's investor-owned utility companies have agreed to open up their wallets to pay into the state's wildfire fund in exchange for less financial responsibility when blazes are linked to their equipment.
The unprecedented decision to spend billions of dollars from shareholders under a new model to pay for damages championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to the immense financial threat that power providers face as they operate in a state that endured the worst blazes in the country last year. The fund, propped up by $21 billion split equally between utility customers and shareholders, is meant to act as a second insurance policy for publicly traded electricity companies and to
