Pedro J. Pizarro
President And Chief Executive Officer at Edison International
Well, thank you, Sam, and good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining us. I am pleased to report that Edison International's core EPS for 2023 was $4.76, which was above the midpoint of our guidance range despite the pending CEMA decision shifting into 2024. This strong performance demonstrates our ability to manage the business and extends our track record of meeting annual EPS guidance over the last two decades, as shown on page three. Today, we are introducing 2024 EPS guidance of $4.75 to $5.05.
This range incorporates a planned investment in O&M for reliability-focused activities and redeploy savings from prior years into operational excellence initiatives. The spending will benefit customers and therefore, shareholders in the long run. I also reaffirm our strong confidence we have in our long-term EPS growth targets of 5% to 7% for 2021 through 2025 and also 2025 to 2028. Maria will discuss our financial performance and outlook later on the call. Page four shows our accomplishments in 2023.
First, we, once again, delivered on our annual EPS guidance. Second, SCE exceeded its wildfire mitigation plan target to install 1,100 circuit miles of covered conductor, bringing the total to more than 580 in just five years. We are proud of this progress, which combined with enhanced medication management, asset inspections and other programs has significantly reduced the need for public safety power shutoffs.
Incorporating this progress into the independent wildfire risk model managed by Moody's RMS, you can see on page five that SCE has achieved 85% to 88% risk reduction as compared to pre-2018 levels. Third, SCE filed its cost recovery application for the TKM events requesting $2.4 billion. SCE provided a compelling case that it prudently designed, managed and operated its equipment and that the associated costs were reasonably incurred. Lastly, we raised our annual dividend by 5.8%, reflecting the board and management's continued confidence and commitment to delivering on our EPS growth targets.
Our dividend yield is in excess of 4% and remains a key component of our total return proposition. This marked the 20th consecutive annual increase in Edison International's dividend. Page six provides an update on the 2017 and 2018 wildfire resolution and our approach for 2024. I would like to emphasize three takeaways. First, SCE continues to make solid progress, and overall claims are settling in line with expectations. SCE revised the best estimate of total losses upward by $65 million with the majority of this based on a single settlement.
The deadline in the Woolsey settlement protocol to provide complete claims packages was yesterday and SCE is now evaluating the responses. Second, the utility targets resolving more than 90% of Woolsey claims and filing the cost recovery application in Q3. Third, CPUC President, Reynolds, issued the scoping memo earlier this month for the TKM proceeding, which largely adopts SCE framing of the issues. We are encouraged for this ruling because the issues will be handled in a single phase, allowing for a final decision as soon as Q1 of 2025.
Also the schedule provides an opportunity for parties to submit a settlement agreement. I would like to remind you that our financial assumptions for 2025 and beyond do not factor in the cost recovery applications, which would represent substantial value for the company and SCE's customers. Page seven summarizes the key management focus areas for 2024. On the wildfire mitigation front, SCE plans to install an additional 1,050 miles of covered conductor in 2024, after which this program will start to ramp down.
By the end of next year, SCE will be approaching a significant milestone, 90% hardening of its total distribution lines and its high fire risk area. You can see this depicted on page eight. Also SCE will continue its GRC advocacy for funding critical investments that will enable efficient electrification and the state screen energy transition. I want to emphasize that distribution grid investment accounts for more than 85% of SCE's capital plan, and these investments are crucial for ensuring reliability, resiliency and readiness.
The CPUC has consistently approved this type of spending in previous GRCs, reinforcing our confidence in SCE's request. As for the legal and financial categories, I just discussed our legal approach, including filing the Woolsey application in the third quarter, and Maria will discuss our financial targets shortly. We, at Edison, are equally focused on the long term. As we have highlighted in several industry-leading white papers, the grid will be a key enabler for realizing California's pathway to NetZero.
To get there, it will be critical to rapidly expand the high-voltage transmission system and the localized distribution networks that serve customers. This aligns well with the underlying drivers of our investment outlook. As more and more vehicles and buildings are electrified, the electricity demand will increase by 80% over the next 20 years, which will benefit customer affordability through a 40% decrease in their total energy costs across electricity, gasoline and natural gas.
After years of flat demand, SCE is projecting an uptick in electricity usage of about 2% annually over the coming years. To accelerate the development of new markets over time, SCE has developed innovative proposals, including its nation-leading suite of transportation electrification programs. Recently, although the CPUC denied SCE's building electrification application due to their near-term affordability pressures, it acknowledge SCE's leadership and proposing programs to accelerate much-needed building decarbonization.
The utility will continue to evaluate the results of other building electrification pilots it has in progress, and we'll also look for different ways to support the state in advancing its green energy priorities. Another area where we continue to innovate is building our digital and AI capabilities to drive greater efficiency. We are investing in technologies to improve our data analytics skills to enhance decision-making and strengthen operational excellence.
For example, we are using generative AI to improve inspections, customer experience and grid planning. Today, our team is also using AI for research, workflow automations and code development. In SCE's customer service operations, AI is enabling call center agents to retrieve information faster, performing speech and sentiment analytics and supporting billing operations. We will continue this proactive approach to capture value using new technology.
To conclude, our operational agenda is driven by safety first, reliability, affordability and resiliency in our overall utility operations, including SCE's wildfire mitigation and industry-leading covered conductor program. Our financial agenda is very clear: deliver on our 2024 EPS guidance and achieve our EPS target for 2025. Our team and I are very committed to executing strongly, and we will continue to share our progress with you.
And with that, let me turn it over to Maria for her financial report.
