A San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) plan to prevent wildfire by shutting off power in the backcountry during dry, high-wind conditions was shut down by the California Public Utilities Commission today. Detractors of the plan, which was rejected by a 4-1 vote, claimed the utility company was more interested in reducing liability than fire risk, according to a Los Angeles Times article.

“If I thought for a second this was about safety, I'd be for it in a heartbeat," Mark Payne, who lost his home in the 2007 Witch Fire started by downed power lines, told the Times in a related article Tuesday. "This is about liability and corporate greed.”

In the end, the PUC said SDG&E hadn’t shown turning off approximately 60,000 backcountry residents’ power would lessen fire risks. The utility was told to go back to the drawing board and develop a plan that could be embraced by first responders, according to today’s article. The San Diego Office of Emergency Services, the Sheriff's Department, and Cal-Fire all opposed the plan, which might leave residents unable to fight fire without electricity to pump water.

The plan also vexed members of the San Diego City Council, especially backcountry representative Dianne Jacob, who accused the utility of introducing the plan as a way to shirk responsibility for power line-caused fires without investing money in other safety measures, such as burying lines and installing gadgets to keep lines from touching in high winds, according to Tuesday’s article.

"This has nothing to do with safety," Jacob said. "It's about saving money for SDG&E and shifting liability to other people and agencies."

According to the Times, SDG&E—which has paid $740 million for Witch Fire property damage—has already invested $40 million in shutoff preparations. The PUC decision doesn’t limit the company’s right to turn off power during emergencies, today’s article stated, but it does mean SDG&E continues to have the same level of liability.