Southern California electricity customers are now on the hook to pay the 10-figure utility cost of a deadly 2018 Ventura County wildfire that burned across nearly 100,000 acres.
What happened: The California Public Utilities Commission voted Thursday to approve a Woolsey Fire cost recovery settlement agreement between Southern California Edison and the utility watchdog organizations the California Public Advocates Office, the Energy Producers and Users Coalition, and Small Business Utility Advocates.
The agreement will allow SCE to charge its customers $1.9 billion to recover the costs of fire-related third-party claims, legal costs and financing. It will also allow the utility to charge its customers $71 million for the costs of repairing damaged infrastructure in the wake of the fire.
Why it matters: The decision represents another electricity bill rate increase — on the order of $1.24 per month — at a time when affordability has become a watchword in Sacramento and across the country. It also underscores the long-ranging financial impacts of devastating wildfires in the Golden State.
