Audit finds California utilities aren’t doing enough to reduce wildfire threats

AS RECORD-BREAKING drought fuels another potentially dangerous wildfire season, the state auditor reported last week that state officials are failing to hold California’s electric utilities accountable for preventing fires caused by their equipment.

The report to the California Legislature found that the new Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety approved utility companies’ wildfire prevention plans even when they were “seriously deficient.” Included were plans by Pacific Gas & Electric, California’s largest utility, which was held responsible for sparking the state’s deadliest wildfire, the Camp Fire that killed 85 people in 2018.