A long-anticipated report has put a $3.5 billion price tag on what it would cost California to transfer wildfire risk to the capital markets as the state looks to protect its aging energy grid from growing physical risk while supporting the power demand needed to back both consumers and artificial intelligence data centers.
That figure is contained in a 127-page study released Wednesday, representing the estimated annual premium for reinsurance, catastrophe bonds, and parametric vehicles covering losses between the 1-in-10-year and 1-in-100-year return period for a restructured California Wildfire Fund.
