California utilities could be banned from charging for electricity during power shut-offs and required to reimburse their customers for spoiled food or other financial losses under legislation that cleared the state Senate on Monday. Supporters say the bill seeks to carefully balance the need to prevent blazes that have killed scores of Californians with the unintended consequences of power outages for residents and businesses. The bill would ban utilities from billing customers for electricity if they are out of power. SB 378 also opens utilities up to civil liability if the California Public Utilities Commission determines the company failed to reasonably and prudently implement the outage. The California Chamber of Commerce argues that the bill penalizes use of a safety measure already approved by the state.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 28, 2020 02:03 UTC