SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom Sept 30 launched the next phase of California’s “all-in” response to the ongoing economic impacts of the climate crisis, including the insurance crisis felt across the U.S. and globally as climate change creates new risks to property owners and insurers as well as the destabilization of the energy utility sector that directly impacts ratepayers and wildfire survivors.
The Governor signed an executive order that calls for multiple state agencies and departments to collaborate on research and recommendations to develop long-term durable tools to mitigate and fairly allocate the costs of recovering from natural catastrophes, further stabilize the insurance market and utility sector, make insurance more affordable and accessible, protect ratepayers, ensure compensation for wildfire survivors, and more. Text of the executive order is available here.
The executive order comes after the Governor signed SB 254 (Becker) to create the next generation of the state’s wildfire fund to support wildfire survivors and protect ratepayers from excessive utility liability costs. One major component of SB 254 directs the state’s wildfire fund administrator to prepare a report by April 2026 analyzing new approaches to responding to catastrophes, including wildfires. This executive order expedites the state’s work to undertake that analysis.
The California Earthquake Authority or CEA, as the wildfire fund administrator, will evaluate and prepare a report on reforms to California’s energy utility and insurance markets in the face of California’s growing exposure to natural catastrophes. CEA will collaborate with several state agencies on the study and has issued a call for stakeholder contributions to the study. Those with an interest in California’s natural catastrophe resiliency are encouraged to participate and share their expertise.
Gov. Newsom also announced that his former cabinet secretary, Ann Patterson, who will be joining the Woods Institute for Environment and Sustainability Accelerator at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability as a Policy Scholar, has agreed to participate in this process in her personal capacity.