County Prosecutors Probing Whether Edison Should Be Criminally Prosecuted For Eaton Fire

The Los Angeles County District Attorney is investigating whether Southern California Edison should beryllium criminally prosecuted for its actions successful past year’s devastating Eaton wildfire, which killed 19 group and near thousands of families homeless, nan institution said Wednesday.

Pedro Pizarro, main executive of Edison International, told Wall Street analysts during an day convention telephone that nan institution was cooperating pinch nan District Attorney’s office. He said he didn’t cognize nan magnitude of nan investigation.

The institution said successful its yearly 10-K report, which was released Wednesday, that it “could beryllium taxable to worldly fines, penalties, aliases restitution” if nan investigation “determined that it grounded to comply pinch applicable laws and regulations.”

“SCE is not alert of immoderate ground for felony liability pinch regards to nan Eaton Fire,” nan study said. “Any fines and penalties incurred successful relationship pinch nan Eaton Fire will not beryllium recoverable from insurance, from nan Wildfire Fund, aliases done electrical rates.”

The District Attorney’s agency declined to comment.

The investigation into nan fire, which destroyed a wide swath of Altadena, has not yet been released. Pizarro has said that a starring mentation of nan fire’s origin is that a century-old transmission statement successful Eaton Canyon, which had not carried powerfulness for 50 years, someway re-energized and sparked nan fire.

Edison executives person said they didn’t region nan line because they believed it would beryllium utilized successful nan future.

Company executives knew idle transmission lines could spark wildfires. In 2019, investigators traced nan Kincade occurrence successful Sonoma County, which destroyed 374 homes and different structures, to a transmission statement owned by Pacific Gas & Electric that was nary longer successful service.

The Times reported successful December really Edison fell down successful maintenance of its transmission strategy earlier nan fire.

Despite nan vulnerable Santa Ana upwind conditions connected Jan. 7, 2025, Edison decided not to unopen down nan transmission lines moving done Eaton Canyon. Pizarro has said nan winds that nighttime didn’t meet nan company’s period astatine nan clip for turning disconnected nan lines.

Pizarro told investors connected nan telephone Wednesday that he continued to judge that nan institution had acted arsenic a “reasonable inferior operator” earlier nan deadly fire.

Under authorities law, if a inferior is wished to person acted reasonably it tin beryllium reimbursed for each aliases astir of nan damages of nan occurrence by a authorities wildfire fund.