The Port of Long Beach aims to become an assembly hub for floating offshore wind turbines, while the state awaits a more favorable federal administration for their deployment.

A factory in Sacramento will be first in the country to make a new alternative to lithium-ion at commercial scale.

As electrification rapidly expands across sectors, how can California prepare its grid and infrastructure to meet surging demand?

The California Public Utilities Commission’s Energy Division staff asked the California Independent System Operator to publish methodology explaining discrepancies in its public Extended Day-Ahead Market data.

Top executives of California’s two biggest utilities warned they would take action to protect their shareholders if Sacramento lawmakers fail to pass legislation limiting their companies’ liabilities for wildfires sparked by their equipment

Flipping on the lights, plugging in a phone or turning on the air conditioner are everyday routines that most Californians rarely think twice about — until the monthly utility bill arrives. Over the past several years, electricity has become one of the fastest-growing household expenses across the state, leaving residents wondering why costs have risen so dramatically as California doubles down on clean energy goals. It’s tempting to point to a single culprit: Some blame renewable energy, while others point to regulations or inflation.

_Welcome to CalMatters, the only nonprofit newsroom devoted solely to covering statewide issues that affect all Californians. Sign up for_ _WeeklyMatters_ _for a Saturday morning digest of the latest news and commentary from the Golden State._ This story is part of **California Voices,** a commentary forum aiming to broaden our understanding of the state and spotlight Californians directly impacted by policy or its absence. Learn more here. The timing could not have been better — or worse. The findings from a long-awaited investigation into the origins of a deadly Southern California wildfire were released Tuesday, pinning it on an electrical arc from a Southern California Edison transmission tower. Simultaneously, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration was asking legislators to limit the financial liability of SoCal Edison and other investor-owned utilities when their equipment ignites wildfires, which have become an inescapable fact of Californians’ lives. The report dealt with the Eaton Fire, one of several that swept through the Los Angeles area in January 2025, driven by hot winter winds known as Santa Anas. Once ignited, it quickly engulfed communities in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, particularly Altadena, charring more than 14,000 acres, destroying more than 9,000 homes and other buildings and claiming at least 19 lives. It took firefighters 24 days to fully extinguish it. “After 18 months of thorough review of all evidence, alongside retained electrical and metallurgical experts, the investigation concluded that the cause of the wildfire conflagration was due to the electrical arcing events that took place on the out-of-service Southern California Edison tower,” the Los Angeles County Fire Department wrote in the condensed report it produced along with Cal Fire. The electrical arc not only ignited the Eaton Fire, it also launched a predictable sequence of finger-pointing and legal maneuvering over insurance payouts to fire victims and efforts by their insurers to shift the financial onus onto the utility and its stockholders. It was predictable because similar scenarios had erupted during other fire disasters, such as the 2018 Camp Fire that destroyed the Butte County town of Paradise, caused by a faulty Pacific Gas and Electric transmission line. ## READ NEXT Economy ### LA fire survivors say Newsom is trying to help utilities reduce their wildfire costs again by Levi Sumagaysay Even before the 2025 Southern California fires erupted, the Camp Fire and other major wildfires had generated a circular political debate over how billions of dollars in damages should be apportioned. It’s a difficult issue because PG&E, SoCal Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric, the state’s three major power suppliers, are not like other corporations. They are state-regulated monopolies providing vital services and deriving income from millions of customers. The state has an obligation to protect the utilities’ profits so they can continue to be viable in the bond and stock markets. Thus, whatever financial burden they incur from wildfires will inevitably fall on customers, who already pay power rates that are among the nation’s highest. The special status of investor-owned utilities underlies the current political debate in the Capitol in which Newsom, whose governorship will end in a few months, wants the Legislature to limit their liability and protect their financial viability. Although nothing’s in print, it’s apparent that Newsom wants the Legislature to limit fire victims’ compensation for pain and suffering, to eliminate or reduce the ability of insurers to recover their payouts to victims from utilities, and to cap the fees of lawyers who pursue lawsuits on behalf of victims. Understandably, insurers, lawyers and organizations of fire victims are strongly opposed. They have been waging a public campaign against the relief Newsom seeks, while the utilities are campaigning for it. As horrendous as California’s wildfires may be, the conventional rules of imposing liability and spreading the cost just doesn’t work when utilities are state-regulated and state-protected. It’s a zero-sum game and cries out for a macro approach, such as an umbrella insurance policy for the entire state, covering not only fires but other calamities that threaten California, such as earthquakes. It would build on the relatively new fund financed 50-50 by the three utilities and their customers that was created after the Northern California wildfires. Playing reactive small ball doesn’t work. It’s time to step up to a much bigger game. ## READ NEXT Economy ### Utility blamed for Eaton fire compensated 82 victims two months into program January 6, 2026January 6, 2026 Commentary ### California cannot keep rewarding utilities after catastrophic wildfires July 28, 2026 Read more from CalMatters Text Get breaking news on your phone. Download Keep up with the latest via our app. Sign up Receive free updates in your inbox. ## Nonpartisan, independent California news for all We’re CalMatters, your nonprofit and nonpartisan news guide. Our journalists are here to empower you and our mission continues to be essential. * **We are independent and nonpartisan.** Our trustworthy journalism is free from partisan politics, free from corporate influence and actually free for all Californians. * **We are focused on California issues.** From the environment to homelessness, economy and more, we publish the unfettered truth to keep you informed. * **We hold people in power accountable.** We probe and reveal the actions and inactions of powerful people and institutions, and the consequences that follow. But we can’t keep doing this without support from readers like you. Please give what you can today. **********Every gift helps.********** DONATE

California has quietly, but dramatically, increased the resiliency of its electrical grid through a significant expansion in battery energy storage.

We’ll dig into the details, and hear your thoughts on who should pay to rebuild after wildfires.

After weeks of intense negotiation, state lawmakers on Friday reached a compromise on legislation to regulate energy use by California's growing data center industry, action triggered by community anger over the facilities and fears of high utility bills in some communities.

Offshore nuclear power could potentially power everything from ports and data centers to merchant cargo ships and military fleets.