Sacramento may curb fire victims' right to sue utilities Play

In Sacramento this week, the California Assembly may restrict the ability of fire victims to sue power companies for damages if the power companies negligently cause fires.

The governor is seeking to protect the state's for-profit power distribution companies, like Southern California Edison.

SCE has paid out about $10.5 billion in damages to Malibu, Ventura and Santa Barbara in recent years. And it faces up to $55 billion in potential payouts to people who lost their belongings — and in some cases their loved ones' lives — in the Altadena catastrophe.

The governor is worried that the trend of damage recovery will bankrupt the electric distribution companies.

Lawyers point out that Edison has been found over and over again to be operating overhead lines that are in really bad shape. For example, the Altadena fire was caused by a transmission line through fire-prone foothills that was damaged 50 years ago, never removed, and somehow came to life and collapsed in flames.

One state legislator, who was on a city council in the Bay Area when 40 people were killed by a negligent power line fire, says the governor is being too lenient on utilities. He says his hometown, Santa Rosa, would be hard-pressed to recover its direct losses if the governor's plan passes.

There is heavy lobbying on this. The bill is still being amended this week in the California Assembly. A final version is expected this weekend.