California utility creates compensation program for victims of January's deadly Eaton Fire near LA

Key Points

• Southern California Edison will establish a Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program to expedite claims for victims of January’s Eaton Fire, which killed 19 people and destroyed over 9,400 structures.
• The move appears to signal Edison’s acknowledgement of allegations—currently under investigation—that its utility equipment sparked the blaze, as claimed in multiple lawsuits.
• Effective this fall, the fund will cover homeowners, renters, businesses, injured individuals, smoke-related harms and families of the deceased, though the total contribution amount remains unspecified amid estimates of hundreds of millions in damages.
• SCE has faced prior wildfire liabilities, including a $64 million settlement with Los Angeles County over the 2018 Woolsey Fire and more than $2 billion paid to insurers after its equipment ignited that blaze.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Southern California Edison announced this week that it will create a program to compensate victims of January’s devastating Eaton Fire near Los Angeles, even as the cause of the blaze that killed 19 people remains under investigation.

The creation of the Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program seems to suggest that the utility is prepared to acknowledge what several lawsuits claim: that its equipmentsparked the conflagration in Altadena.

“Even though the details of how the Eaton Fire started are still being evaluated, SCE will offer an expedited process to pay and resolve claims fairly and promptly,” Pedro Pizarro, chief executive of Edison International, the utility’s parent company, said in a statement Wednesday. “This allows the community to focus more on recovery instead of lengthy, expensive litigation.”

Officials haven’t said what caused the fire that destroyed more than 9,400 homes and other structures.

It is not clear how much money the utility will contribute to the program. A lawsuit filed by Los Angeles County in March claims that costs and damage estimates were expected to total hundreds of millions of dollars, with assessments ongoing.

SCE said the compensation program, which will go into effect this fall, would be open to those who lost homes, rental properties or businesses. It would also cover those who suffered injuries, were harmed by smoke or had family members who were killed.

Among those suing SCE is EJ Soto, whose rental home in Altadena where she grew up was destroyed by flames. She first heard about the program on the news.

She said she considers the program's creation as a “form of admission” from the utility that its equipment caused the inferno. Soto worries that her family will receive “pennies on the dollar” and said the utility is trying to get out ahead of future lawsuits.

“All our memories are there, places we raised our children. Money won't bring that back. They need to know that our pain is greater than that,” Soto said Thursday.

The SCE payment plan is being created by administrators who helped form similar programs, including the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001.

LA County previously won more than $64 million in a settlement with Southern California Edison over the 2018 Woolsey Fire. Investigators determined SCE's equipment sparked that blaze, and the utility also paid more than $2 billion to settle related insurance claims.

Utility equipment has sparked some of the deadliest and most destructive fires in state history in recent years.

LA Fire Justice, which advocates for wildfire victims, said in a statement Thursday that the SCE program’s creation shows that the utility is prepared to accept responsibility. But the nonprofit said a fund by Pacific Gas & Electric following wildfires in Northern California was slow to roll out and inefficient.

“Experience suggests that these direct payments for victims are neither quick, nor easy, nor equitable. PG&E offered a similar program and wildfire victims ended up receiving inadequate compensation, and it didn’t happen fast,” said Doug Boxer, an attorney for LA Fire Justice.

Investigators are also working to determine the cause of the Palisades Fire, which broke out shortly before the Eaton Fire and killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of structures in Los Angeles.