As the current wildfire season ramps up to full fury, executives at Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) now say they want to almost completely retreat from the private insurance and reinsurance markets due to skyrocketing costs.
In its rate filling issued Tuesday, the utility proposed that it be allowed to create a $1 billion “self-insurance" fund that would cover its wildfire liability up to the attachment point for the newly established California Wildfire Fund.
The move would make the struggling utility almost entirely dependent on publicly funded risk sharing for its growing wildfire risks.