Next March, Southern California Edison will begin its legal defense in a civil trial that will include the first handful of thousands of claims brought against the public utility by survivors of the devastating Eaton fire.
On Thursday night, Nov. 12, in front of a room of fire survivors at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Pasadena, SCE International CEO Pedro Pizarro said the company sees no basis to find that SCE consciously or willfully disregarded the public’s safety despite the catastrophe.
“We believe that SCE will be able to make a good-faith showing that it was a reasonable operator of its system with regards to the Eaton fire,” Pizarro said, referencing state law, AB 1054, that created the California Wildfire Fund, a source of money — $15 billion, as of this year — to reimburse claims over wildfires caused by utility companies.
To determine how much, if any, a utility is required to repay into the fund, the Public Utilities Commission must determine “if the conduct of the electrical corporation related to the ignition was consistent with actions that a reasonable utility would have undertaken in good faith under similar circumstances.”
Pizarro has given the message before, but this time it was after the Rosemead-based utility’s equipment was found to have ignited the devastating fire, which destroyed thousands of homes and left 19 dead. And it came as crucial deadlines for fire survivors loom closer.
Ultimately, a determination will be made by the California Public Utilities Commission once SCE has settled the majority of the claims and the company’s total exposure to liability becomes more clear.
The range of CPUC rulings on SCE’s conduct could result in the company not having to pay back the California Wildfire Fund, paying up to $4.3 billion back into the fund or being required to pay an uncapped amount back into the fund, which could lead to bankruptcy or significant financial stress on the company, Pizarro said.
But as the utility makes a final push for survivors to sign up for its compensation fund, ahead of a Nov. 30 deadline, the message Thursday night struck a confident tone. It echoed a message he gave in the company’s late October third-quarter earnings call, where he said Southern California Edison believes it has no felony liability; and “no basis for a finding of conscious or willful disregard of the rights and safety of others.”
“That is not something I’m losing sleep over,” Pizarro said during the Q&A portion of the town hall meeting, referencing any concerns over SCE being found to have acted with conscious or willful disregard.
The CPUC will make determinations on SCE’s prudency and whether it acted with conscious or willful disregard. Felony liability would come into play if the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office brought criminal charges against the utility. The DA is probing for any criminal liability.
“After looking at the facts that we have on hand, we also see no basis for any felony criminal liability,” Pizarro said. “In fact, if we see no basis for felony criminal liability then we certainly don’t see any basis for conscious or willful disregard.”
The event was the last in-person town hall scheduled before the deadline to apply for Southern California Edison’s Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program.
Pizarro Thursday repeated the message SCE officials have said since the program began: That the company is committed to helping Altadena residents rebuild from the Eaton fire by providing “fair and fast” payments.
Plaintiff attorneys representing fire survivors in litigation against the utility have accused SCE of attempting to offset the damages that will be paid out through the court process by paying people less on the front end.
Those who accept an SCE compensation program offer give up their right to sue SCE for damages related to the Eaton fire.
The statute of limitations for suing SCE for noneconomic damages is Jan. 7, 2027, two years after the start of the fire.
The question of which route will result in a larger payout was asked by multiple attendees on Thursday. Derek Whitefield, an attorney who has served on a panelist at a previous SCE hosted town hall, said he believes for the vast majority of people, the compensation program is the best option.
As of Friday, Nov. 13, almost 6,000 claims have been submitted to the program representing more than 18,200 individuals, trusts and legal entities. According to SCE, it has extended more than 3,400 offers totaling $1.1 billion. More than 80% of offers have been accepted and about 2% have been declined.
To date, SCE has paid more than 4,800 claimants about $660 million with more in process.
Gerald Singleton, a plaintiff attorney in the lawsuit against SCE, has said that those who accept a compensation offer typically get 30 to 50 cents on the dollar of what they could get through a negotiated settlement.
Whitefield and Pizarro Thursday warned of predatory attorneys working within the Eaton fire survivor community some who have dropped clients over applying to the program. They also referenced the delayed first trial and overall expected glacial pace of court proceedings as a reason to encourage residents to explore the compensation program.
Pizarro acknowledged that SCE has heard the community feedback requesting to push the Nov. 30 deadline including from members of the Altadena Town Council at their latest meeting, but encouraged residents to submit their claims by the set deadline.
“We take all of that to heart, but if we were to consider a move we would really need to make sure that we can do it right,” Pizarro said.
He said SCE is staffed up and ready for an expected flood of applications close the deadline date and would have to assess whether it could manage an extension as the holiday season approaches.
“We want to listen to the input, but not sure yet,” Pizarro said.