California’s wildfires are adding as much as $41 a month to residents’ utility bills, according to a new government report.
“Wildfire risk is not just an occasional catastrophe, but a recurring cost embedded in the state’s economy,” the California Earthquake Authority said in the report, released April 7. The authority manages a $21 billion wildfire fund that helps pay claims against utilities.
According to the report, customers of Pacific Gas & Electric, the state’s largest utility, now pay an average of $41 a month in wildfire-related charges, equal to about 19 percent of a typical bill.
Customers of Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric, the state’s second- and third-largest utilities, pay an added 17 percent and 14 percent, respectively—about $27 a month for Edison customers and $21 for SDG&E customers….