Sep. 16--Facing steep losses and soaring insurance premiums because of wildfire damage, utilities serving the San Fernando Valley have asked the state for permission to pass on the higher costs to customers.

Utilities have not specified how they would pass on the costs, but they did say it would not technically be a rate hike.

The request has riled consumer groups who say some of the fires that destroyed utility equipment were caused by the utilities themselves -- such as the downed power line that touched off last year's Sesnon Fire in Porter Ranch.

Southern California Edison and Southern California Gas made the request last month, as the region was bracing for another season of dry Santa Ana winds that can damage equipment and spark wildfires in tinder-dry areas.

"Recently the companies that provide the insurance coverage altered customary practice (and are) offering substantially less coverage for much higher rates," said Southern California Gas spokeswoman Denise King.

"Some are even declining to sell insurance at all."

If approved by the state Public Utilities Commission, Southern California Gas and Southern California Edison would join other major utilities in establishing a special, ratepayer-funded account.

The fund would be in place for the 2010 wildfire season and cover losses to uninsured property.

Officials for the utilities said it is premature to know how much individual customers will have to pay. While the cost would be passed on to customers, King said it would not be a rate increase -- and that the utilities have not formally asked for a rate hike.

"The filing does not seek to change rates," she said.

If approved, only customers of the two investor-owned utilities would be affected and not those served by the city-owned Department of Water and Power.

Meanwhile, the utilities' application to pass on the costs of uninsured losses to ratepayers has ignited an outcry from consumer groups who have asked State Insurance Commission Steve Poizner to look into the issue.

"This is, in fact, an insurance issue -- it's not the consumer's responsibility to provide insurance for the utility companies," said Mindy Spatt, a spokeswoman for The Utility Reform Network, a San Francisco-based watchdog group.

"If the utility companies are having a problem getting insurance, then it's a problem for the insurance commissioner, not for the ratepayer."

A spokesman for Poizner said his office could not legally intervene.