rural

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An aerial view shows a subdivision that has replaced the once rural landscape on July 19, 2023 in Hawthorn Woods, Illinois.

Scott Olson | Getty Images

After a weaker-than-expected spring housing market, summer looks no better. High home prices continue to rise, mortgage rates aren’t coming off recent highs and consumers are unimpressed by the small increase in home listings.

All of that is reflected in weekly mortgage demand, which has been stuck for the second week in a row. Total mortgage application volume was essentially flat last week, up just 0.8% from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.

Mortgage rates didn’t move much either. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($766,550 or less) decreased to 6.93% from 6.94%, with points unchanged at 0.61 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment. That is, however, the lowest rate in more than three months.

Applications to refinance a home loan were unchanged week to week but were 26% higher than the same week one year ago.

“Lower rates, however, were still not enough to entice refinance borrowers back, as most continue to hold mortgages with considerably lower rates,” said Joel Kan, an MBA economist, in a release.

Applications for a mortgage to purchase a home increased 1% for the week but were 13% lower than the same week one year ago. Total housing supply is 18% higher than it was a year ago, according to Zillow, but it is still a very lean market.

“Purchase applications did see a small increase after adjusting for the Juneteenth holiday. Government purchase loans, primarily FHA and VA, saw gains of more than 2 percent over the previous week, as homebuyers in those segments sought to take advantage of the recent rate relief,” Kan added.

Mortgage rates moved sideways to start this week and will likely stay that way until Friday when two important reports on consumer spending and personal consumption expenditures prices are released. Any hint at the current state of inflation tends to have an impact on bond yields and, consequently, mortgage rates.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO

Source: cnbc.com

Apache is functioning normally

Richly textured, colourful, comfortable and full of character, the country house style – whether you live in a Chelsea mansion flat or a rural farmhouse – has returned to form in 2024. Fuelled by the recent screen successes of Saltburn and The Gentlemen via Bridgerton, there’s a distinctive move away from safe neutrals and neat silhouettes towards an old-money aesthetic of verdure tapestries hung on the walls, layers of oriental rugs on wooden floors, gilt framed portraits in oils and drawing room shelves showing off Grand Tour-style collected treasures.

Country-house tastemakers 

Of all the decorators in operation today, Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler is recognised worldwide for its art in capturing English country-house design whether the firm is working on a house in London, Oxfordshire or deep in the Catskill mountains of New York state. Ironically, its story began with an American, Nancy Lancaster, who joined forces with rising star of interior decorating John Fowler just before the outbreak of the Second World War in 1938. “John’s meticulous attention to historical detail – scraping back paint to find the original colours of the walls – was tempered by Nancy’s irreverence for grandeur and her ability to make imposing rooms beautiful, and also incredibly comfortable,” explains the firm’s joint managing director, Emma Burns. “At the heart of the country house aesthetic is the opportunity for everyday life to play out uninterrupted – spaces where a stray newspaper or a forgotten cup of coffee doesn’t look out of place but rather fits in perfectly. It’s generous, beautiful rooms that aren’t disrupted when a dog jumps on the sofa or 20 teenagers rock up unexpectedly to chill.” Her must-have elements include deep, comfy sofas and armchairs, updated over time with loose covers and cushions, as well as good lamps, baskets filled with logs, and coffee tables piled high with books. “It’s about comfort first and foremost.”


Emma Burns arranged a lineup of blue-and-white china on the entrance hall’s sideboard to enhance the deep navy of its banister;


Credit: Emma Burns

A well-decorated room must look effortlessly balanced, no matter how much hard work has gone into it,” say Will Fisher and Charlotte Freemantle of Jamb, the Pimlico Road emporium which is a go-to destination for those wanting to achieve the country-house look. “For us, the focal point of the room will always be the chimneypiece anchored on a hearth. It doesn’t need to be flanked on either side by a matching piece of furniture, the balance can be created instead by the proportion and scale being mirrored either side. Colour is equally important. A marble bust and a vellum lampshade could hardly be more different and yet because they’re the same tone, there’s potential in their ability to balance a room.”

This approach is being embraced and tweaked by a new generation of decorators. Octavia Dickinson agrees that comfort is fundamental to country- house style. “I often approach a room like a beautiful painting, combining colours, textures and shapes in ways which delight the senses but never jar,” she says. “I like to make grand rooms feel less grand or vice versa and most importantly, comfortable; it’s home, after all!” Fabrics, too, want to be soft and flowing, with lots of florals and a mix of patterns that feel like they’ve been collected over time, she adds. Use natural finishes such as unlacquered antique brass, which weathers over time.

Henry Prideaux, who worked for Nicky Haslam and others before establishing his own practice, is known for his classic–meets–contemporary style. His approach is to rework the main country- house design tropes of florals, loose covers and antique furniture in an updated way. “Incorporate decorative trims and wallpaper borders to add detail. For example, I use grosgrain ribbon or patterned paper borders applied to frame doorways and embellish cornicing. Modern artwork and decorative lighting are also ways of adapting traditional country-house design for today.”


Henry Prideaux created this maximalist Miss Marple-inspired study for a terraced house in Putney


Credit: Rooz Ahmadian

An escape to the country often conjures the image of a historic property with space to breathe; in old houses, this is particularly true of the bathroom, which is usually converted from a former bedroom. “For a bathroom that meets the brief, think freestanding,” says James Lentaigne, creative director of Drummonds. “Clawfoot baths are perfect for a long soak while gazing out at the garden, while freestanding showers and towel rails are also overwhelmingly popular. They have a certain historical grandeur but – most importantly – they sit harmoniously in the room without disrupting its character.”

Drummonds has also seen an increase over the last year in bathrooms designed for couples; a space to catch up during the morning and evening routine. “We’re increasingly selling double vanity basins, double showers and even side-by-side baths, particularly in country homes.”


The Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler managing director created a rich backdrop to this bathroom using Rameau Fleuri wallpaper


Credit: Emma Burns

Finally, decorating a classic country house today means listening both to it and the client’s needs, says interior designer Flora Soames. “A house in the English countryside often speaks to me more than anywhere else in the world. It sets the boundaries within which you can play. But do push these boundaries with colour, pattern, playing with scale and introducing the unexpected; that is where it starts to become interesting.”

A modern country house in London 

When a French family relocated from America to Kensington, they appointed the multidisciplinary creative studio OWN London to renovate their outdated four-storey house. The resulting fusion of art, colour and functionality is a fun-filled and updated interpretation of country-house character distilled into an urban format.


OWN London’s renovation of this four-storey Kensington family home features playful country manor touches


Credit: Darren Chung for One Menagerie

Associate director of interior design Alicia Meireles was responsible for the decorative schemes throughout the house. These range from slipcover chairs in a jaunty red-and-blue striped fabric by Studio Atkinson, a banquette upholstered in a Flora Soames design and console tables with bobbin legs by Alfred Newall. In a nod to the country houses of yesteryear, the team introduced a dumb waiter from the kitchen in the lower ground floor to the dining room on the raised ground floor.

Other country house elements which are increasingly finding their way into London properties include what once would have been called “domestic offices” such as laundry rooms, pantries and boot rooms. Typically, these will be located on the lower-ground floor. Nicky Dobree recently designed a boot room and laundry room in the basement of a London house. “It’s a luxury if space allows. We used Humphrey Munson and introduced fabrics to add layers and soften the timber.”

Country homes moodboard 

Get stately pile style with rich textures and prints alongside generous fittings and fixtures. 

The London Magazine celebrates prime property and luxury lifestyle in the world’s greatest city. Read the latest issue online.

Source: telegraph.co.uk

Apache is functioning normally

The current average interest rate for a fixed-rate, 30-year conforming mortgage loan in the United States is 6.853%, according to the most recent data available from mortgage technology and data company Optimal Blue. Read on to see average rates for different types of mortgages and how the current rates compare with the last reported day prior. 

Type of Mortgage Current Rate Rate Last Reported
30-year conforming 6.853% 6.848%
30-year jumbo 7.129% 7.198%
30-year FHA 6.679% 6.680%
30-year VA 6.514% 6.393%
30-year USDA 6.760% 6.816%
15-year conforming 6.158% 6.229%
30-year conforming
6.853%
6.848%
30-year jumbo
7.129%
7.198%
30-year FHA
6.679%
6.680%
30-year VA
6.514%
6.393%
30-year USDA
6.760%
6.816%
15-year conforming
6.158%
6.229%

30-year mortgage rates

30-year conforming

The average interest rate, per the most current data available as of this writing, is 6.853%. That’s up from 6.848% the last reported day prior. 

30-year jumbo

What exactly is a “jumbo mortgage” or “jumbo loan”? Simply put, it exceeds the maximum amount for a normal (conforming) mortgage. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency set this maximum.

The average jumbo mortgage rate, per the most current data available as of this writing, is 7.129%. That’s down from 7.198% the last reported day prior. 

30-year FHA

The Federal Housing Administration provides mortgage insurance to certain lenders, and the lenders in turn can offer the consumer a better deal on aspects such as being able to qualify for a mortgage, potentially making a smaller down payment, and possibly getting a lower rate. 

The average FHA mortgage rate, per the most current data available as of this writing, is 6.679%. That’s down from 6.680% the last reported day prior. 

30-year VA

A VA home loan is offered by a private lender, but the Department of Veterans Affairs guarantees part of it (reducing risk for the lender). They are accessible if you’re a U.S. military servicemember, a veteran, or an eligible surviving spouse. Such loans may sometimes allow the purchase of a house with no down payment at all. 

The average VA home loan rate, per the most current data available as of this writing, is 6.514%. That’s up from 6.393% the last reported day prior. 

30-year USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture operates programs to help low-income applicants achieve homeownership. Such loans can help U.S. citizens and eligible noncitizens purchase a home with no down payment. Note that there are stringent requirements to be able to qualify for a USDA home loan, such as income limits and the home being in an eligible rural area.

The average USDA home loan rate, per the most current data available as of this writing, is 6.760%. That’s down from 6.816% the last reported day prior. 

15-year mortgage rates

A 15-year mortgage will typically mean higher monthly payments but less interest paid over the life of the loan. The average rate for a 15-year conforming mortgage, per the most current data available as of this writing, is 6.158%. That’s down from 6.229% the last reported day prior.  

Why do mortgage rates fluctuate?

While your personal credit profile significantly influences the mortgage rate you’re offered, various external factors also play a role. Key influences include:

  • Federal Reserve actions: When the Federal Reserve adjusts the federal funds rate, lenders typically follow suit by raising or lowering the interest rates on their financial products. Essentially, the Fed uses this tool to control the money supply, making it easier or harder for consumers and businesses to borrow.
  • Inflation levels: You might wonder if inflation and the Fed’s actions in responding to it are essentially the same factor, but they’re not. The Fed manipulates rates to manage inflation, but lenders also respond independently. For instance, they might hike rates to maintain profitability when inflation is high.
  • Economic conditions: Lenders consider things like overall economic growth as well as housing supply and demand when determining mortgage rates. These are just a few examples of the factors that can influence lenders to make rate adjustments.

Learn more: How are mortgage interest rates set by lenders?

Which type of mortgage should you choose?

There’s no universal answer as to which is the best type of mortgage. Most mortgages are conventional, but government-backed loans can be more affordable if you qualify.

Meanwhile, jumbo mortgages are suitable for purchasing more expensive homes that exceed the limits of conforming mortgages, though they may cost more over the loan’s duration.

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) generally start with low, attractive rates that later increase. If you’re considering this option, make sure you’re comfortable with that possibility. 

The rates in this article reflect averages for fixed-rate mortgages.

If you’re uncomfortable shopping for rates independently, a mortgage broker can help (for a fee) find the best mortgage deal for your situation.

How high have mortgage rates been in the past?

While mortgage rates may feel sky-high these days compared to the sub-3% rates some homebuyers scored in 2020 and 2021, what we’re seeing currently isn’t that strange when compared with historical data on mortgage rate averages. Below are a couple charts from the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED for short) online database for context.  

30-year fixed-rate mortgage historical trends

If you think rates between 6% and 8% today are scary, consider September through November of 1981, which saw the average rate hovering between 18% and 19%, according to FRED.

Check out the FRED 30-year mortgage rate chart:

15-year fixed-rate mortgage historical trends

Rates today on 15-year mortgages, as shown in the Optimal Blue data above, are roughly on par or even slightly lower than what we see during many previous periods. For example, take a look at FRED data for the end of 1994 and beginning of 1995, when rates neared 9%.

See the FRED 15-year mortgage rate chart:

Frequently asked questions

What’s a good mortgage rate?

With current market conditions, those with good to excellent credit can expect interest rates between 6% and 8%. If your credit score is in the low 600s, rates above 8% might be more likely.

Remember, credit score is just one of several factors affecting your mortgage rate, including your down payment amount, state of residence, and loan term length.

Learn more: Easy ways to check your credit score.

What is a mortgage rate lock?

Given the potential for daily rate fluctuations, a mortgage rate lock (or lock-in) can secure a favorable rate for you. These locks typically last 30, 45, or 60 days, with options to extend if necessary.

However, rate locks have potential drawbacks. If rates drop, you could miss out on an even better rate. Additionally, if your initial lock period is insufficient, extending it could be costly.

Finally, rate locks don’t absolutely guarantee your rate. Changes in your credit score or unexpected appraisal values can still alter your mortgage rate.

What’s an APR vs. an interest rate?

The interest rate is a pretty self-explanatory part of borrowing, while the APR (annual percentage rate) includes any additional fees, making it higher. Although they’re distinct for mortgages, the terms are often used interchangeably for credit card rates.

Source: fortune.com

Apache is functioning normally

In case you missed it, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) granted conditional approval to Freddie Mac to purchase single-family closed-end second mortgages.

What this means is lenders will now be able to originate second mortgages and sell them off to one of the two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs).

Arguably, this should improve access to such lending products, and potentially result in cost savings if increased competition drives down interest rates and fees.

At the same time, some have argued that this is inflationary (since it makes it easier for homeowners to take on more debt), while others have said it’s not part of the GSEs core mission to boost homeownership.

I’m here to argue that this new pilot program is very limited and likely won’t change much, at least anytime soon.

What Is Freddie Mac’s New Second Mortgage Pilot Program?

In a nutshell, Freddie Mac is now permitted to purchase second mortgages that meet certain criteria.

As a result, there will be added liquidity in the lending markets for home equity loans, which are closed-end loans.

At the moment, most second liens, whether open-end HELOCs or closed-end home equity loans, are originated by large depository banks that typically keep them on their books.

The nonbanks often don’t have this luxury because it’s capital intensive, so the end result is that fewer mortgage companies offer such loans.

Notice the lack of home equity lending in the chart above provided by ICE, which has since been exacerbated by mortgage rate lock-in.

This can lead to negative outcomes for homeowners who might need access to their home equity to pay off other debt or fund purchases.

In fact, the pilot was approved by the FHFA to determine if the offering will advance Freddie Mac’s “statutory purposes” and benefits homeowners, especially those who reside in rural and underserved communities.

One of the arguments for the program is that HELOC providers often overlook lower-income homeowners in search of more affluent borrowers who open bigger lines of credit.

These happen to be more lucrative for those lenders since the larger the loan, the higher the commission generally.

Anyway, without getting too convoluted, the new program simply makes home equity loans easier to come by.

It’s not much different than the liquidity Freddie Mac (and sister Fannie Mae) provide for first mortgages, which makes them easier to obtain and cheaper too.

Who Qualifies for a Freddie Mac Second Mortgage?

While I myself was critical of this new program, mostly because you can already get a home equity loan from many different providers, there are several guardrails in place to keep this from becoming an unintended monster.

For one, it is limited to $2.5 billion in total loan volume over an 18-month pilot period.

This means once that money is exhausted, the program is closed and will be evaluated to determine if it should continue and/or be expanded.

In addition, the first mortgage must already be owned by Freddie Mac and the loan requires a minimum seasoning period of 24 months.

As such, a homeowner can’t get a Freddie Mac home equity loan unless they’ve had their existing first mortgage for at least two years.

And last but not least, it’s only available on primary residences and loan amounts are capped at $78,277.

This corresponds to subordinate-lien loan thresholds for Qualified Mortgages (QMs).

If you meet ALL these criteria, it may be possible to get a home equity loan behind your existing first mortgage that is backed by Freddie Mac.

Ideally, it will be easier to obtain and cheaper than other alternatives from private banks. But we don’t really know for sure.

This Program Is Going to Be Super Limited

As you can see from the program guidelines above, this isn’t going to be a massive program, at least not initially.

We know they won’t lend more than $2.5 billion, which broken down nationally isn’t a very large number.

For perspective, the nation’s largest second mortgage lender, PNC Bank, originated nearly 80,000 loans in 2022.

Assuming the typical loan is at the max loan amount of $78,277, it would result in less than 32,000 second mortgages being purchased by Freddie Mac.

Arguably it’ll be a lower average loan amount, but that still puts the loan count below that of just one provider.

In other words, it’s likely not going to make a big impact if the pilot doesn’t even generate as much activity as one other lender.

Especially when there are hundreds of other second mortgage providers out there.

But I’m sure everyone will be watching to see how it shakes out, and especially how the underwriting guidelines and mortgage rates compare.

Some also argue that this is just the beginning, and could usher in a full-blown second mortgage program backed by the likes of Freddie Mac AND Fannie Mae.

At which point everyone will be tapping equity left and right, potentially setting off another debt crisis (and eventual housing crisis).

But such worries are a long way away and not even founded at this juncture.

Home Equity Is at All-Time Highs While Withdrawals Are at Their Lows

As for why a program like this is necessary, the argument is to provide options for the underserved and an alternative to a cash out refinance.

The FHFA recognizes that with mortgage rates significantly higher today, refinancing the first mortgage in order to tap equity doesn’t make much sense.

And they know homeowners will do what they have to do if and when they need access to cash.

This could provide a lower-cost option versus a traditional refinance and also broaden participation of such lending to smaller, local shops instead of just big banks.

If you look at the latest stats, you’ll see that home equity withdrawals are rock bottom at a time when home equity has never been higher.

Per ICE, mortgage holders had a collective $16.9 trillion in equity entering the second quarter of 2024, of which $11 trillion could be tapped while maintaining an LTV of 80% or less. Those are both record highs.

Meanwhile, home equity withdrawals in the first quarter were equivalent to just 0.36% of tappable equity available, with both the fourth quarter of 2023 and Q1 2024 withdrawal rates the lowest on record (since 2005).

And about half of home equity withdrawal is happening via cash out refinancing, which likely isn’t ideal for borrowers with low fixed-rate first mortgages they lose in the process.

So we have an environment where home equity lending is already super low and a pilot that greatly limits how much can be generated via the program.

Of course, it is possible that the pilot pushes private lenders to up the ante and that leads to more home equity withdrawals, whether in the best interest of homeowners or not.

Source: thetruthaboutmortgage.com

Apache is functioning normally

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Trinity Public Utilities District’s power lines snake through the lower reaches of the Cascade Range, a rugged, remote and densely forested terrain in Northern California that has some of the highest wildfire risk in the country. But for several years, the company has been without insurance to protect it from such a threat.

Trinity’s equipment was blamed for causing a 2017 wildfire that destroyed 72 homes and three years later its insurer, a California public agency called the Special District Risk Management Authority, told the utility that it would no longer cover it for fires started by its electrical lines. Trinity could find no other takers. 

The utility’s exposure comes as wildfires are already flaring up across the U.S. West in what could be a dangerous and prolonged fire season. 

READ MORE: Homeownership’s hidden costs rise 26% in four years

“If a fire were to start now that involved one of our power lines, it would likely bankrupt the utility,” said Paul Hauser, general manager of the local government-owned utility that serves about 13,000 rural customers in Trinity County, 200 miles (322 kilometers) north of Sacramento. That’s because without insurance, a lawsuit could put the utility on the hook to pay for damages to private homes and businesses, which could easily top the utility’s annual revenue of about $16 million.  

Western utilities and beyond are finding it prohibitively expensive, if not impossible, to insure against potential fire-related claims. The trouble comes after power companies from Hawaii to Texas have collectively faced tens of billions of dollars in damages from wind-driven wildfires linked to their equipment. The issue will become more pressing as climate change makes droughts more intense and frequent, heightening the chances of more destructive infernos.

“Wildfire risk is the number one issue for utilities,” said Michael Kolodner, the practice leader for the U.S. power and renewables industry at Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc., a US insurance broker. “This is impacting every single utility in North America.” 

READ MORE: Treat home insurance costs like a 1-year ARM, climate risk experts say

The insurance companies set up by the utilities are now limiting how much coverage they will provide to power companies exposed to wildfire risk, leaving them at the whim of the commercial marketplace where premiums are rising.

Overall, commercial wildfire insurance rates have gone up as much as 30% this year with premiums also increasing the past several years, according to Marsh. Portland General Electric, based in Oregon, said their fire insurance premiums doubled.

The insurance challenges are now making it more expensive and difficult for some utilities to attract the capital required to harden their grids against climate risks and build out the infrastructure needed to meet President Joe Biden’s goal of a carbon-free grid by 2035.

“If utilities can’t get insurance or if the insurance is really expensive, it’s harder for them to construct new facilities they need to build like transmission lines and distribution lines,” said Michael Wara, an expert on utility wildfire risks who serves as director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford University. The problem is akin to potential homeowner being unable to secure a mortgage to buy a house because they can’t get property insurance, Wara said.

Randy Howard, general manager of the Northern California Power Agency, which has 16 public power utility members including Trinity, says the lack of commercial insurance is making it hard for some his utilities to attract financing to build high-voltage transmission lines that the state wants to connect to renewable energy projects.

“It’s impacting investors’ willingness to invest in these projects that we need to build,” Howard said.

READ MORE: Home insurance woes threaten mortgage lending, experts warn

The utility industry is openly discussing the need to set up a federal program that could provide a type of insurance backstop for smaller power companies that have limited financial resources. Such a fund would cover claims for utilities that have agreed to meet certain fire risk reduction standards. The fund could be modeled after one set by California after PG&E Corp. filed for bankruptcy in 2019 in the wake of starting some of the worst wildfires in state history. 

As it stands now, utilities have become the “insurer of last resort” when it comes to damage claims from wildfires tied to their equipment, said Emily Fisher, general counsel at the Edison Electric Institute, an investor-owned utility trade group. The industry has become difficult to insure because there isn’t a limit to their potential wildfire liabilities, Fisher added. 

Power companies also need to spend billions of dollars to make their infrastructure less prone to start fires, funding fixes such as installing weather monitoring equipment, burying power lines and replacing old poles. “It’s not a sustainable regime,” Fisher said.

 Warren Buffett agrees. In the billionaire investor’s recent annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, Buffett said he’s reconsidering his utility investments due to the heightened wildfire risk in the West. Berkshire’s PacifiCorp utility, which operates in six Western states, was found liable in 2023 for destruction caused by the 2020 Labor Day fires in Oregon. PacifiCorp is appealing the decision. The utility faces wildfire claims estimated to be as much as $8 billion, according to a regulatory filing. 

“We are basically in the position of being the insurer of last resort because we cannot get enough commercial insurance,” PacifiCorp Chief Executive Officer Cindy Crane said at a S&P power markets conference in April. “We had a pretty good volume of wildfire insurance and we blew through that.”

PacifiCorp has obtained wildfire insurance, but its premiums have increased more than 400% from 2019 through 2022, a spokeswoman said. 

Utilities also have been turning to state governments for help. PacifiCorp backed legislation passed earlier this year in Utah that sets up a catastrophic fire insurance fund for utilities and caps non-economic damage claims arising from utility-linked fires.

In 2019, California set up a $21 billion wildfire insurance fund to prevent additional investor-owned utility bankruptcies after PG&E was driven into Chapter 11 for sparking fires in 2017 and 2018 that killed more than 100 people and destroyed thousands of homes.

California investor-owned utilities, which contributed to half of the fund, can qualify for the coverage if they meet certain fire safety standards. The fund covers claims above $1 billion, with the utilities having to find insurance up to that amount.

Even that has proven to be difficult. PG&E decided to self-insure against wildfire risk in 2023 after the utility saw its cost for commercial wildfire insurance as a percentage of coverage jump from 4.6% in 2015 to nearly 80% in 2022, when the utility paid about $746 million for $940 million in coverage, according to regulatory filings.

PG&E estimates its self-insurance program, which works by putting aside money collected from bills for possible claims, will save customers up to $1.8 billion over the next four years compared to commercial insurance coverage. Southern California Edison has also opted to self-insure after seeing its commercial coverage rates skyrocket.

However, publicly owned, government-run utilities like Trinity aren’t part of California’s wildfire insurance fund, leaving them entirely exposed. The state’s legal regime holds utilities responsible for damage claims from fires started by their equipment — whether they were negligent or not. (While the liability standard is looser in other states, it hasn’t gotten utilities off the hook in places like Oregon).

Trinity Public Utilities District is stuck in a problematic cycle where it can’t do the work required to make its own property safer from fire. The utility wants to widen the clearing around its existing lines on federal land from 20 feet to up to 130 feet to reduce fire risk, but it cannot start that work without a new federal permit. And it cannot get a new permit unless it has wildfire insurance.

“We are kind of the poster child for this issue,” Hauser, the general manager, said. “No one will insure us.”       

Source: nationalmortgagenews.com