BILLINGS, Mont. — Climate change in the Western U.S. means more intense and frequent wildfires churning out waves of smoke that scientists say will sweep across the continent to affect tens of millions of people and cause a spike in premature deaths. That emerging reality is prompting people in cities...
PG&E to Pay $1 Billion to Local Governments for Wildfire Damage
SACRAMENTO — A California utility agreed Tuesday to pay $1 billion to 14 local governments to cover damages from a series of deadly wildfires caused by its downed power lines. The settlement is a sliver of the more than $30 billion in potential damages Pacific Gas & Electric is facing...
California Approves Power Outages to Prevent More Wildfires
SACRAMENTO — California regulators on Thursday approved allowing utilities to cut off electricity to possibly hundreds of thousands of customers to avoid catastrophic wildfires like the one sparked by power lines last year that killed 85 people and largely destroyed the city of Paradise. Utilities' liability can reach billions of...
Governor Newsom Proposes $213B State Spending Plan
SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a $213 billion state budget Thursday that boosts spending on K-12 education, wildfires and homelessness while putting more money toward state reserves and debt. The revised budget is up $4.5 billion from his first proposal in January and maintains a $21.5 billion surplus, the...
California Regulators Approve $373M PG&E Rate Hike
SAN FRANCISCO — California regulators have approved a $373 million rate hike for Pacific Gas & Electric to pay costs related to a series of wildfires. KTVU-TV says the California Public Utilities Commission Thursday unanimously OK'd an increase that raises the average bill by $3.50 a month over 12 months. The station...
California May Boost Rules for Homes at High Wildfire Risk
SACRAMENTO — Years of increasingly deadly California wildfires spurred lawmakers to consider regulations Tuesday that would toughen local governments' requirements for approving housing developments in high-risk areas. A state Senate committee voted 8-3 Monday to advance a measure requiring developers to increase fire protections, plan for evacuations, or prepare for...
Newsom Won't Block Building in High-Fire Areas
SACRAMENTO — A desire to live near nature is embedded in California's ethos, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday as he explained why he doesn't want to block home building near forested areas at high risk for wildfires. "There's something that is truly Californian about the wilderness and the wild and...
Millions Live in Parts of California Threatened by Wildfires
SACRAMENTO — Impoverished towns in the shadow of Mount Shasta. Rustic Gold Rush cities in the Sierra Nevada foothills. High-dollar resort communities on the shores of Lake Tahoe. Ritzy Los Angeles County suburbs. They all could be the next Paradise. A McClatchy analysis reveals more than 350,000 Californians live in towns...
California Eyes Risk Pool as It Struggles with Costly Fires
SACRAMENTO — Officials were struggling Wednesday to find ways for homeowners to afford insurance in fire-prone areas of California and for utilities to survive liability from devastating wildfires that threaten to worsen with climate change. One option on the table is the creation of a new state catastrophe fund backed...
PG&E: Company’s Equipment May Have Ignited Camp Fire
NEW YORK — Pacific Gas & Electric says its equipment may have ignited the 2018 Camp Fire, which killed 86 people and destroyed an entire town in Northern California. The embattled utility said Thursday it's taking a $10.5 billion charge for claims connected to the Camp Fire in its fourth...