Eminent Domain Report

We recently detailed Senate Bill 254, which overhauls California’s approach to wildfires. In addition to promoting new transmission facilities, replenishing the wildfire fund, streamlining the siting process and exempting underground plans, there was a notable addition that has not received as much attention: the Natural Catastrophe Resilience Study. There’s a great article by Travis Ritchie, California Wonders if it is Doing Wildfire Risk All Wrong, that covers this topic. In particular, he notes that utilities in California are vulnerable to wildfire liability ...

On June 30, 2020, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 350 (“SB 350”), which is intended to serve as a backstop for customers as Pacific Gas and Electric Company (“PG&E”) completes its restructuring process and begins implementing the reorganization plan recently confirmed by the United States Bankruptcy Court. The bill, named the Golden State Energy Act, gives the State authority to take certain actions if PG&E does not comply with the terms of its reorganization plan.

SB 350 establishes a new entity named Golden State Energy (“GSE”) to serve as a nonprofit public ...

On August 31, 2018, the California Legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 901, which addresses a number of wildfire-related items relating to public utilities.  Governor Brown signed the Bill into law on September 21, 2018.

While the bill introduces a series of new changes, it is particularly noteworthy for what it does not include from Governor Brown’s initial June 2018 proposal for wildfire liability reform.  At least for the time being, lawmakers abandoned the most controversial aspect of Governor Brown’s proposal for the bill: modifying California's strict liability ...