California lawmakers approved a multibillion-dollar plan Thursday to shore up the state’s biggest electric utilities in the face of catastrophic wildfires and claims for damage from past blazes caused by their equipment.
It requires major utilities to spend at least $5 billion combined on safety improvements and meet new safety standards, and it creates a fund of up to $21 billion that could help pay out claims as climate change makes wildfires across the U.S. West more frequent and more destructive.
