CSAC Statement on Wildfire Victims First “Coalition”

Sacramento, CA — The following statement can be attributed to Santa Clara County Supervisor and California State Association of Counties President Susan Ellenberg:

The CSAC board, representing all 58 California counties, voted unanimously Thursday to express deep disapproval of PG&E’s manipulation of wildfire survivors and local elected officials for political and financial gain.

We call on the investor-owned utilities to immediately cancel all ads and shut this “coalition” down.

Background/Context:

• Paradise vice-mayor Steve “Woody” Culleton, whose home was destroyed in the 2018 Camp Fire caused by PG&E equipment, told Politico that a PG&E executive working with the Wildfire Victims First Coalition “duped” him into appearing in a TV ad.
• The ad advocates for state lawmakers to pass legislation that would shift liability for wildfires caused by investor-owned utilities from utility shareholders to survivors, taxpayers and local governments.
• The coalition is funded by investor-owned utility (IOU) shareholders.
• Quotes from the article:
  • “I got conned into doing this thing a year ago,” Culleton told POLITICO. “You just need to know that I don’t really support this. If you saw that (TV ad), I was duped.”
  • Graham Knaus, who leads the California State Association of Counties, claimed dozens of local government leaders across the state have been “blatantly misled” by the Wildfire Victims First group, not realizing it’s a utility-funded group. “It’s not a real coalition,” Knaus told POLITICO. “It’s one that’s built on deception. It’s a sham.”’
• CSAC strongly opposes the proposal backed by investor-owned utilities that earn billions of dollars in profits every year.
• Full story for Politico Pro subscribers here, excerpt publicly available in this newsletter.