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“The Eaton fire devastated Altadena, home to one of California’s most historic Black communities.”
Photo Credit: iStock
A California campaign has been urging fire survivors to “stand with wildfire victims” and pressure lawmakers to take action on wildfire costs. But many survivors say the message feels deeply misleading after learning the effort was funded by the same utility industry repeatedly linked to some of the state’s most destructive fires.
This spring, a group called Wildfire Victims First has been sending mailers and running social media ads across California that encourage residents to contact lawmakers about wildfire costs. The Los Angeles Times reported that the effort was funded by the state’s three major for-profit utilities: Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric, and San Diego Gas & Electric.
In communities such as Altadena, the funding disclosure has been especially upsetting to survivors. Thousands of families there lost their homes in the Eaton fire, which killed 19 people and is still under investigation. Edison has said, according to the Los Angeles Times, that a century-old transmission line is the likely cause.
The utility-backed campaign is now pushing proposals from a wildfire study commissioned by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Critics say those ideas would narrow what survivors can recover by trimming pain-and-suffering awards, limiting attorney fees, and shifting more costs to insurers and the public.
Joy Chen of Every Fire Survivor’s Network wrote in a letter to Newsom that the campaign “created the appearance that wildfire survivors supported” the study’s recommendations but said, “We do not.”
Critics argue that the proposals backed by the utility-funded group would shift more of the financial burden to survivors, policyholders, taxpayers, and the public instead of corporations. In practice, that could mean lower compensation for families trying to rebuild after a fire, increased pressure on insurers, and potentially higher electric bills.
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The Eaton fire shows why survivors are so alarmed. If regulators determine that Edison acted reasonably, the company could be reimbursed through California’s $21 billion wildfire fund. If damages exceed that amount, customers could ultimately be left paying the rest through their utility rates.
The controversy has also raised broader concerns about corporate-backed campaigns that appear grassroots at first glance. When an organization presents itself as representing wildfire survivors while accepting funding from companies tied to wildfire destruction, it can make it harder for the public to distinguish genuine advocacy from image management.
Survivors and advocacy groups are pushing back. Chen’s 15-page letter drew signatures from groups including Public Citizen, Consumer Watchdog, and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, and the coalition urged state leaders to strengthen accountability for utilities that spark fires.
Brandon Lamar, president of NAACP Pasadena, tied the issue directly to the toll the Eaton fire took on Altadena. 
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“The Eaton fire devastated Altadena, home to one of California’s most historic Black communities,” he said. “Now as survivors fight to rebuild, they should not be asked to bear the cost of protecting the corporations whose failures devastated their community.”
Some lawmakers are also drawing a firm line. State Sen. Sasha Renee Perez, a Democrat representing Altadena, said, according to the Los Angeles Times, that she would oppose any measure cutting payments to victims for pain and suffering. 
“I can’t think of a more offensive thing to propose when I have friends who lost family members in the fire,” she said.
“If the financial rewards for repeated catastrophic failure are record profits, record executive compensation, and record shareholder dividends,” Chen wrote, “then catastrophic failure is exactly what this system will keep producing.”
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