Electrically-caused wildfires, social fairness, and a proposed solution

Wildfires and wildland urban interface (WUI) fires are a severe problem in areas along the West Coast. But they also can be a problem in most other parts of the country where there are forests, grasslands, or other vegetation. The fraction of such fires caused by electric power transmission or distribution facilities is very small. But the economic losses tend to be disproportionately large. The outcome of such events is typically tort litigation, where the owners of affected properties bring lawsuits to obtain recovery.

This seems reasonable on a local level, until it is realized that massive wealth redistributions are taking place, and these redistributions have not been debated and accepted in public forum. Furthermore, serious issues of unfairness exist. For example, individuals affected by lightning strikes collect nothing, while those who are able to take action against electrical utilities sometimes even collect punitive damages, not just recover their losses.

It is proposed that wildfire losses could very usefully be treated on a Workers Compensation model. Such a model would correct lack of fairness (since all injured parties would be treated similarly) and would cease the channeling of huge resources into the legal system. The current system operates more like a lottery than like a rationally-tailored social system, and the proposed scheme would correct this situation.

THIS EVENT WILL BE HYBRID, WITH ONLINE PARTICIPATION AND AN IN-ROOM AUDIENCE.

Host or Publisher Christian Regenhard Center for Emergency Response Studies (RaCERS)