SACRAMENTO, California — Southern California Edison will officially draw from California’s wildfire liability fund to cover costs from January’s Eaton Fire, according to state documents released Wednesday.
What happened: The California Earthquake Authority, which administers the fund, determined in September that Southern California Edison qualified for a payout to cover compensation claims related to the Eaton Fire that destroyed more than 9,000 buildings in Los Angeles County, according to materials shared ahead of a meeting Thursday.
The state-administered fund — jointly financed by ratepayers and utility shareholders — expects to pay out “tens of billions” of dollars tied to the blaze, meeting materials show, making the Eaton Fire the costliest wildfire in the fund’s history by far.
Why this matters: The move to officially designate the Eaton Fire as a covered wildfire under the state’s wildfire liability fund shields Southern California Edison from potential bankruptcy-level losses but could drain resources meant to cover future utility-caused fires — even though Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed legislation in September preemptively reupping the fund with another $18 billion to limit the strain.
