Edison says stalled wildfire liability fix is raising costs and crowding out grid growth

Southern California Edison says unresolved wildfire liability is driving up borrowing costs and could squeeze spending on electrification and clean energy.

Edison International CEO Pedro Pizarro used the company's third-quarter 2026 earnings call to press for wildfire liability reform in California. He wants a long-term fix with a clear, durable source of liquidity for paying claims, plus a shareholder liability cap separate from the state's Wildfire Fund. CFO Aaron Moss estimated that elevated credit spreads could cost customers an extra $300 million over the life of the bonds Southern California Edison expects to issue in 2027 alone. That figure is the company's own estimate.

The pressure comes from the 2025 Eaton Fire. Per the Q3 filing, SCE and Edison face about 2,000 lawsuits from 38,000 plaintiffs. As of Sept. 30, SCE had recorded $1.8 billion in losses on settlements. It expects recoveries of $917 million from customer-funded self-insurance, $859 million from the Wildfire Fund and $70 million through FERC rates. Those numbers may change as claims proceed. In September the Legislature declined to advance Gov. Newsom's proposal to limit utility liability, and Edison's stock fell 23%. The session ended without a final vote. Speaker Robert Rivas said work would continue, and the constitutional deadline to send a bill to the governor is November 15.

This matters for abundance because the cost of capital is part of every electricity bill. SCE plans to invest $38–41 billion from 2026 to 2030, with 22% for load growth and electrification and 12% for wildfire management. Moss said that without durable reform, Edison would prioritize safety, reliability and compliance, leaving less for load growth and clean energy. Unresolved liability therefore makes power costlier and slows the grid build-out that electrification depends on.

Watch the November 15 deadline and whether any bill carries a liability cap and liquidity mechanism. Pizarro says he is confident policymakers will act, but warns that delay into 2027 would be costly. The source does not quantify the effect on electricity rates.

Source: Utility Dive