Newsom, Lawmakers Reach Last-Minute Deal on Wildfire Fallout

August 31, 2026

KQED

Meredith Fowlie, faculty director at the Energy Institute at Haas, notes that while utilities invest billions to prevent wildfires, significant risk remains. “That means there is fire risk for people living in high-risk areas, close to power system infrastructure, that they are not seeing in their insurance premiums,” she said. “We are seeing them on our electricity bills.

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