A map showing the preliminary origin area of the Eaton Fire.
Today Southern California Edison (SCE), a subsidiary of Edison International, sent a pair of letters to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) updating the utility’s ongoing analysis into the origin of two wildfires that ignited on January 7, 2025. The correspondence follows an interim update on the Eaton Fire provided by SCE on January 27 and addresses the utility’s potential culpability for the Hurst Fire.
eaton fire update
In its latest report to California’s utility regulator, SCE maintains that the cause of the Eaton Fire has still not been determined. However, it acknowledges external evidence that suggests a possible link to utility equipment, “which the company takes very seriously.” However, SCE claims it has not identified typical or obvious indications supporting this association like broken conductors, fresh arc marks in the preliminary origin area, or evidence of faults on the energized lines running through that area.
“While we do not yet know what caused the Eaton wildfire, SCE is exploring every possibility in its investigation, including the possibility that SCE’s equipment was involved,” confirmed Pedro J. Pizarro, the president and CEO of SCE’s parent company, Edison International. “We have been fully engaged since the start of the fires in supporting the broader emergency response, containment, recovery and investigation efforts.”
The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LAFD), the lead agency investigating the Eaton Fire, preliminarily determined it started in an area where SCE has three transmission towers. The plaintiffs in several recently filed lawsuits point to supposed evidence of SCE’s liability, including statements and photographs allegedly showing a fire sparking up near the base of one of those transmission towers and satellite images that purport to reveal the fire’s origin area near SCE’s overhead circuit lines. SCE obtained a native copy of the surveillance video published in the New York Times that purports to show two flashes of light in the Eaton Canyon area on the night of January 7. SCE says it turned the video over to the County investigator.
The fire department’s investigation, like SCE’s, remains ongoing. The utility is working to examine available information including grid data, maintenance records, photos, and videos to determine potential causes of ignition, even if that means it determines its equipment played a role.
SCE anticipates its full investigation could take several months to complete. The review will include an up-close inspection and testing of equipment in the area of origin as well as material recovered by fire investigators.
The Eaton Fire, propelled by raging Santa Ana winds, burned approximately 14,000 acres. Cal Fire reported 17 confirmed civilian fatalities and nine fire personnel injuries/illnesses, although media outlets have reported as many as two dozen associated deaths. The fire damaged or destroyed more than 10,000 structures including SCE distribution facilities in the Altadena area, including the Fair Oaks substation.
“Our hearts go out to everyone who has suffered losses. We are working with the local communities SCE serves to rebuild and emerge stronger,” said Pizarro. “We understand the community wants answers, and we remain committed to a thorough and transparent investigation.”
SCE says it continues to preserve critical electronic and physical evidence and plans to lower its power lines in proximity to the preliminary origin area in Eaton Canyon for further visual inspection. SCE has three transmission towers that carry transmission lines in Eaton Canyon – four active and one inactive- which are currently de-energized.
You can read SCE’s latest analysis and catch up on its evidence preservation edicts in the full letter submitted to the CPUC.
hurst fire update
The LAFD has suggested Southern California Edison equipment caused the Hurst Fire, which burned nearly 800 acres before it was fully contained on January 16. In its correspondence with the CPUC, SCE confirms it believes its equipment may be associated with the ignition of the fire, although its cause still remains under investigation.
The Hurst Fire appears to have started in an area north of Saddle Ridge Road, where SCE maintains a transmission tower (Tower 6) supporting the Gould-Sylmar 220 kV and Eagle Rock-Sylmar 220 kV circuits. On the night of January 7, SCE said hardware supporting the insulator string for the top phase bundled conductors at Tower 6 separated and caused the top phase to fall on the middle phase, resulting in both plummeting to the ground at the base of the tower. This resulted in a relay operation and a lock-out on the circuit.
No structures were destroyed, although two homes sustained damage in the Hurst Fire. Nobody was hurt. SCE says it continues to cooperate with authorities and that the damage to utility facilities has not yet been tabulated.
rebuilding efforts
Through January 31, 2025, SCE reports its teams have:
Installed 400,000 feet of power lines (approximately 75 miles)
Set 1,265 poles
Replaced 380 transformers
“Edison International and SCE have been part of this community for almost 140 years,” said Edison’s CEO Pizarro. “As we work to rebuild, SCE’s ongoing investments in wildfire prevention and mitigation, including undergrounding and hardening the grid in high-risk areas will continue, and if necessary, be expanded.”
Is the wildfire fund as good as gone?
S&P Global Ratings (S&P) downgraded its outlook on Edison International and SCE from “stable” to “negative” this week, citing significant potential liabilities resulting from the Eaton Fire that may completely drain California’s multi-billion dollar wildfire emergency fund.
“We believe that the California wildfire fund, designed as a material source of liquidity and financial support for participating California investor-owned utility is at risk of a material depletion,” S&P said.
The fund, created in 2019, has a claim-paying capacity of about $21 billion and can be tapped into by any California utility. S&P maintained the Edison companies’ “BBB” credit ratings despite revising its outlook.
In addition to fearing the depletion of the state’s emergency wildfire fund, S&P Global Ratings said its decision to downgrade the utilities reflects the potential for a more challenging operating environment for Edison and SCE due to wildfire risk, which could weaken credit quality.
“If SCE is found to have contributed to the wildfire, third parties would likely file significant claims against the utility because of the inverse condemnation doctrine in California – whereby a California utility can be financially responsible for a wildfire if its facilities were a contributing cause of the fire irrespective of negligence, putting the sufficiency of the fund at risk,” S&P argued. “Furthermore, the $21 billion wildfire fund does not have an automatic replenishing mechanism and is fully available to other participating California investor-owned utilities, including Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric.”
If the fund is depleted, S&P asserted, SCE loses the credit benefit of using the fund as a source of liquidity and more importantly, loses the credit protection of the liability cap. As such, as the wildfire fund materially declines, Edison and SCE’s credit quality could become more exposed to risk, supporting the negative outlook on both entities.
