Edison Executive Pay Soars Despite Devastating Eaton Fire

Edison International boosted nan salary of its apical executives past twelvemonth contempt their work for nan information of nan company’s powerfulness lines earlier nan devastating Eaton fire, which destroyed a wide swath of Altadena and killed 19 people.

Although nan institution trim rate bonuses for its elder executives, citing nan wildfires, their wide compensation went up substantially arsenic nan utility’s profit soared successful 2025.

Pedro Pizarro, main executive of nan genitor institution of Southern California Edison, received $16.6 cardinal successful cash, banal and different compensation past year, up 20% from 2024, according to a caller institution filing.

Steven Powell, president of Southern California Edison, received compensation totaling $6.5 cardinal past year, up from $3.9 cardinal successful 2024 — a jump of much than 65%.

The utility’s transmission instrumentality is suspected of igniting 2 wildfires connected Jan. 7, 2025, including nan Eaton fire, which near thousands of families homeless.

The Times earlier elaborate how Edison fell down successful performing maintenance connected its aging transmission lines — activity that it had told authorities inferior regulators was needed. County prosecutors are investigating whether Edison should beryllium criminally charged for its actions earlier nan fire.

The authorities investigation into nan origin of nan occurrence has not been released and Edison has denied that it acted negligently. Pizarro has said a starring theory is that a century-old transmission line, which nan institution had not utilized for 50 years, whitethorn person concisely reenergized, igniting nan fire.

A authorities rule championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom successful 2019 protects utilities from paying for nan harm owed to fires sparked by their equipment. When it passed, Newsom touted nan law’s request that utilities must necktie executive compensation to their information record, saying it would support them accountable.

The rule said that a inferior “may” see tying 100% of executive bonuses to information capacity and “denying each inducement compensation successful nan arena nan electrical corp causes a catastrophic wildfire that results successful 1 aliases much fatalities.”

Edison said successful the caller filing that nan company’s committee members who find executive compensation decided to alteration nan rate bonuses of Pizarro, Powell and Jill Anderson, nan utility’s main operating officer, because of nan 2025 wildfires.

Pizarro’s rate prize was trim by much than $1 cardinal while Powell’s was trimmed by $442,000, according to nan filing. Anderson mislaid retired connected $244,000.

The company, based successful Rosemead, said its determination to trim nan 3 executives’ rate bonuses “was not a reflection of nan capacity of nan institution aliases these executives.”

Despite those cuts, nan executives’ full salary of salary, bonuses, banal and different compensation rose, according to nan filing. That’s because Edison ties astir executive compensation not to safety, but to nan company’s financial performance.

And past year, Edison’s profit jumped much than 200% — from $1.3 cardinal successful 2024 to $4.5 cardinal — contempt nan Eaton disaster.

The profit summation resulted from nan protections from wildfire harm provided to Edison by nan 2019 law, arsenic good arsenic a 13% hike successful customer energy rates successful October.

The inferior attributed nan higher electrical bills to respective increases that it successfully lobbied nan California Public Utilities Commission to approve. All 5 members of nan committee were appointed by Newsom.

Scott Johnson, an Edison spokesman, said Tuesday that Pizarro and different institution executives holding banal took a financial deed aft nan fires erstwhile nan value plummeted.

Before nan January fires, Edison International’s banal value was astir $80. It fell to $50 nan adjacent month. It has recovered overmuch of its value, closing connected Tuesday astatine $72.92.

Edison is facing hundreds of lawsuits by victims of nan fire. The suits declare it acted negligently, including by failing to remove nan old, dormant transmission statement successful Eaton Canyon.

The lawsuits besides blasted Edison for not preventatively shutting down its transmission lines Jan. 7, 2025, contempt nan vulnerable Santa Ana winds.

Pizarro has said nan winds didn’t meet nan company’s period successful spot astatine nan clip for turning disconnected those high-voltage wires.

“Our deepest sympathies stay pinch each those affected, and this nonaccomplishment reinforces our committedness to nationalist information and wildfire consequence mitigation,” Pizarro and Peter Taylor, president of nan genitor company’s board, wrote successful a missive to shareholders that was released pinch nan specifications connected executive compensation.

The 2 executives added that nan company’s “long-term nonsubjective remains unchanged: to importantly trim wildfire consequence while improving safety, reliability and affordability of electrical service.”

Edison is now offering to compensate Eaton occurrence victims, including those who mislaid their homes, family members, businesses and apartments. The connection requires nan victims to springiness up their correct to writer nan utility. Many survivors opportunity nan utility’s offer falls short of what they lost.

Pizarro and Taylor wrote that arsenic of March 4, much than 2,500 claims had been submitted done nan program. So far, Edison has extended offers to astir 600 victims submitting claims and made payments totaling $31 cardinal to 212 of those people, they wrote.

The inferior besides has begun settling claims of spot insurers that covered Altadena homes that were destroyed aliases damaged, paying retired hundreds of millions of dollars. The settlements will thief screen nan security companies’ losses.

Edison has told its shareholders that it expects astir aliases each of those payments to victims and insurers to beryllium covered by a $21-billion authorities wildfire fund that Newsom and lawmakers created arsenic portion of Assembly Bill 1054, which became rule successful 2019.

Critics opportunity nan rule went excessively far, allowing a inferior to allegedly spark a deadly wildfire without financial consequences to nan institution aliases its executives.

“The predictable result of continuing to protect shareholders and executives from nan consequences of their ain negligence is not theoretical. It is observable. More catastrophic fires,” Joy Chen, executive head of nan Eaton Fire Survivors Network, wrote successful an email to authorities wildfire money administrators this year.

Johnson responded, saying,”Our information to forestall fires and immoderate incidents is to beryllium bully neighbors and supply affordable and resilient energy. There is thing much important than safety.”

Taylor was connected nan committee committee that approved nan compensation package for Pizarro and different apical executives. For his activity chairing nan board, Taylor received rate and banal compensation of much than $500,000.

Johnson said Taylor’s compensation was based connected “typical committee chair pay” astatine different utilities.

The caller filing said Pizarro’s full compensation of $16.6 cardinal was 75 times nan median Edison employee’s full compensation of $220,000.

The coming worth of Pizarro’s pension is much than $19 million, nan study said.

The institution is facing a situation from 1 of its shareholders — John Chevedden of Redondo Beach, according to nan filing.

Chevedden is asking nan company’s shareholders to ballot to o.k. his connection that would require Pizarro and different Edison executives to clasp astatine slightest 25% of nan banal they had received arsenic compensation until they scope status age.

He said that requiring inferior executives to clasp a important information of their banal until status would attraction their efforts connected nan company’s semipermanent success.

Chevedden pointed to “unfavorable news reports,” including nan U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuits against Edison for nan Eaton occurrence and 2022 Fairview blaze, which killed 2 group successful Riverside County.

Edison’s committee urged shareholders to ballot against Chevedden’s connection earlier nan company’s yearly gathering April 23.

The committee said nan institution already had guidelines that “closely align nan interests of officers pinch nan semipermanent interests of our shareholders.”