LA Times Reports PG&E and Edison Have Secret Thanksgiving Surprise To Limit Shareholders' Liability For Utility-Caused Fires In Special Session, Says Consumer Watchdog

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Nov. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Los Angeles Times is reporting that a secret PG&E presentation shared with state senators calls for limiting shareholder liability for fires caused by utilities' negligence in a special session to be completed before Thanksgiving. 

Under the proposal, no matter how negligent the utilities were in starting a wildfire their shareholders would be liable for no more than between $1.5 billion and $5.1 billion, and the rest of the costs would be on ratepayers. The Eaton fire, reportedly started by Edison's negligence, could cost between $14 billion and $18 billion.

"For PG&E and Edison to believe they can limit their shareholders' liability so dramatically in a special session two weeks before Thanksgiving has got to be the biggest Turkey of the year," said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog. "You can't sneak a change this big by the public without the consequence of political suicide for the legislators who would approve such a giveaway to shareholders at the expense of ratepayers and wildfire victims without proper legislative scrutiny."

Nonetheless, the CEOs of Edison and PG&E have claimed in recent investor calls a special session is viable before Thanksgiving and the recently revealed presentation shows the prize they want: a hard cap on shareholder liability for utility-caused fires. Edison CEO Pedro Pizarro announced the Thanksgiving deadline on a recent investor call saying, "This legislature is no longer in place as of November 30th. Under the Constitution, if they're going to send a bill to the governor through a special session, that bill would need to go in no later than November 15th."

"This Thanksgiving surprise could quickly turn into a turkey shoot for Gavin Newsom's presidential ambitions were he to call a special session to rush this bailout through," said Court. 

Sacramento insiders suggest that rank and file legislators are cold to such a special session with only Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee Chair Cottie Petrie Norris, backed by Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, siding with the utilities in calling for it.

Consumer Watchdog noted that utilities hid from the legislative debate all year by refusing to publicly comment or testify and sheltering behind their Wildfire Victims First group, so there couldn't be an honest debate during the legislative session. Now they are demanding a special session before Thanksgiving.

"It's an outrageous way of conducting public business," said Court. "The governor's fact sheet on his plan, the only public document with his and the utilities' intentions, never mentioned a shareholder liability cap. Now just before Thanksgiving suddenly a shareholder liability cap is on the table."

"A hard cap on shareholder liability would create moral hazard by putting a predictable price on a for profit utility's negligence," Court said. "That would encourage a for profit utility like Edison to prioritize short term profit over long term safety, for example by not removing an abandoned transmission line even though it was allocated money to do it because it could make investment returns on the money. If Edison knows the most its shareholders are liable for a wildfire is $4.6 billion, it won't be as careful as it would if its shareholders faced full liability when the company is negligent or imprudent. Edison and PG&E have shown us repeatedly if they are not held fully financially responsible for their negligence, they will continue to be negligent."

The Public Utilities Commission yesterday posted its report on the need for wildfire liability reform in response to a query from Governor Newsom. Senator Sasha Renée Pérez has called on the PUC to require Edison and PG&E to comply with its duty to serve and not delay necessary services pending a bailout, what Consumer Watchdog calls bailout blackmail. The PUC fails to deal with how it can protect ratepayers from PG&E's and Edison's delays in its report.

"The PUC makes the same error as the CEA did in its SB 254 report," Court said. "The PUC acts like wildfires just start on their own when in fact the most devastating wildfires were started by utilities' negligence, including the Camp fire and the Eaton fire. When utilities' negligence causes wildfires, shareholders need to be responsible and deterring the wildfires in the first place should be the principal goal not limiting liability for utility-caused wildfires. The PUC's failure to oversee the three for profit utilities and punish them when their negligence causes a loss of lives is a big reason the utilities don't feel the need to do better. The PUC should focus on regulating the utilities and stopping their bailout blackmail by forcing PG&E to provide the connection services it promised to without delay under the company's duty to serve."

SOURCE Consumer Watchdog