By Bob Christie | Capitol Media Services
A sweeping measure passed by the Arizona House giving utilities like Arizona Public Service and Tucson Electric Power major protections from lawsuits for wildfires sparked by their equipment will be stripped of the most contentious provisions in a state Senate committee hearing on Monday, the panel’s chairman said.
Finance Committee chairman Sen. J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, told Capitol Media Services on Friday that the amendment he crafted will remove provisions sought by the utilities requiring people or companies who sue over wildfire damages to prove by “clear and convincing” evidence that the utilities were at fault. That’s a much higher level of proof than what is normally required in lawsuits.
Also gone is a prohibition on recovering “consequential damages,” said Mesnard. Those include things like lost business income or compensation for renting a car if a person’s vehicle is destroyed by a fire and the owner awaits a replacement from the utility at fault.
