(Reuters) – California’s $21 billion wildfire fund may shield Edison International’s balance sheet if equipment owned by the company’s electric utility is found to have caused a deadly Los Angeles fire last month, Edison’s CEO said on Thursday.
Southern California Edison, which is one of the state’s largest electric utilities, is facing a swelling number of lawsuits claiming its power lines caused the Eaton Fire in the foothills near Pasadena.
The California Wildfire Fund, which allows the state’s utilities to recover some wildfire-related claims payments, has $21 billion and has been largely untapped by investor-owned utilities like Southern California Edison, Edison International CEO Pedro Pizarro said on a call with investors.
“We have confidence in the fund,” he said.
The Eaton Fire was one of multiple blazes that broke out in the Los Angeles-area on January 7 in what became the most costly natural disaster in American history. No official cause for the major fires, including Eaton, has been released.
SCE will likely begin burying more lines underground as a wildfire mitigation effort, Edison executives said on a conference call with investors.
Edison International shares have fallen 35% since the start of the wildfires as investors worry the company could face massive liability claims.
(Reporting by Laila Kearney in New York and Tim McLaughlin in Boston; Editing by Leslie Adler and Sonali Paul)
