April 22, 2025 The Best Source of News, Culture, Lifestyle for Culver City, Mar Vista, Del Rey, Palms and West Los Angeles

Fire Ruling Has Huge Effect on Utilities

By Tom Elias

 

 

 

 

 

 

Under intense political pressure at the same time bone-dry Santa Ana and Sundowner winds propelled unchecked wildfires across Southern California in early December, the California Public Utilities Commission handed down perhaps its most consumer-friendly decision in several decades.

Unanimously, the five commissioners forced the San Diego Gas & Electric Co. – not its customers – to pay more than $379 million in uninsured costs from the 2007 Witch, Guejito and Rice fires that devastated large parts of San Diego County, destroying more than 1,300 homes and killing two persons. SDG&E had tried to fob those costs off on consumers, including some whose homes burned in the same fires.

The commissioners also were unanimous in imposing new, stricter rules for utilities to help stem future wildfire risks.

Investigators found SDG&E failed before the 2007 fires to properly maintain its equipment, failing to trim tree branches and chaparral growing near power lines, which arced and sparked as those infernos began. The company and its insurers paid more than $2 billion in claims, but it wanted customers to foot almost all the remaining bills.

The PUC previously went along with similar utility company requests, but this time, for once, commissioners stood by consumers.

Multiple results were immediate: While the Lilac Fire raged in late fall in north San Diego County, SDG&E turned off power to as many as 170,000 persons when winds propelling the new blaze picked up. So arcing power lines could not contribute to this fire disaster. A lot of folks living in areas around Boulder Creek and Palomar Mountain were inconvenienced, but this time the fire destroyed “only” 157 structures, not 10 times that many.

Knowing it might actually have to pay very steep costs if it kept the power on, the utility played it safe. No one can be certain whether that action or lessened wind was the main factor that kept the Lilac Fire much smaller than some previous ones. But cutting the power certainly didn’t hurt, counter though it is to hallowed utility company practices that aim to keep the juice flowing no matter what.

The PUC’s landmark decision was also felt in other areas of California, where fires both in December and earlier in the fall devastated hundreds of thousands of acres in places like Napa, Sonoma, Orange and Ventura counties, Santa Clarita, Montecito and the Bel-Air, Sylmar and Tujunga Canyon sections of Los Angeles.

No, neither Pacific Gas & Electric Co. nor Southern California Edison Co. nor the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power made prophylactic power shutdowns like those near San Diego, but both PG&E and Edison were sorely affected. PG&E suspended dividends while watching its stock tank by 9 percent in December, largely because of potential liability from the many fire-related lawsuits it faces.

And while the Thomas fire blitzed through Ventura County and on toward Santa Barbara, the stock value of Edison’s parent company, Edison International, fell as much as 15 percent. There is no official finding yet on the cause of that fire, which has consumed more than 700 homes and spurred at least two fatalities. But investors and stock analysts fear Edison, like SDG&E, might have to pay not only billions of dollars for damage, but also might never see its own repair and service restoration costs returned.

The same for PG&E, whose customer lawsuits stem from reports of PG&E lines sparking into nearby vegetation just as devastating October blazes got underway in the Wine Country. PG&E’s dividend decision shows management feels the same fears as investors.

The PUC’s decision was key to much of the stock market response to the fires, just as it probably spurred SDG&E to shut down its power, even though the company never copped to that. For if these utilities are now to be held more responsible than before for their errors and neglect, their financial futures will be affected.

And yet, no one knows what the PUC might do years from now when utilities inevitably demand that customers pay most of their costs from this year. That’s one reason for paying close attention to the next governor’s appointments to this vital, but scandal-compromised, commission.

Related Posts

Pepper Spray and Panic: LA Homeowners Targeted in Nighttime Burglaries

April 22, 2025

April 22, 2025

LAPD Hunts Suspects After One Resident Attacked in Beverly Grove Two separate home invasions late Friday night in Beverly Grove...

“We’re Better Than This”: Tour Business Owner Pleads for Protection After Third Burglary

April 21, 2025

April 21, 2025

Thieves hit Again, Stealing E-Bikes and Leaving a Wake of Damage in South La Cienega The frustrated owner of a...

Lawsuits Allege Insurance Giants Conspired to Undercut California Fire Victims

April 21, 2025

April 21, 2025

Two Lawsuits Accuse Top Carriers of Price-Fixing and Violating Antitrust Laws Attorneys representing homeowners impacted by California’s January wildfires have...

Cali Camp Welcomes Los Angeles Campers

April 21, 2025

April 21, 2025

By Susan Payne Roam streams, meadows and oak trees in the heart of rock-lined Topanga Canyon this summer at Cali...

Culver City Closes Streets for Earth Day to Encourage Green School Commutes

April 21, 2025

April 21, 2025

Pedal, Walk, or Roll: Culver City Schools Go Car-Free for Earth Day Culver City is taking its Earth Day celebration...

Mayor Karen Bass’ Budget Plan Proposes 1,647 Layoffs Amid $300M Liability Surge

April 21, 2025

April 21, 2025

Civilian LAPD Staff, Transportation, and Sanitation Departments Among Hardest Hit Mayor Karen Bass’ proposed city budget for the upcoming fiscal...

Santa Monica PD Makes Arrest in Ocean Front Walk Stabbing; Second Suspect Sought

April 21, 2025

April 21, 2025

Late-Night Stabbing in Santa Monica Prompts Manhunt After a shocking incident of violence in Santa Monica, a man has been...

ALPR Alerts Lead Culver City Police to Two Stolen Vehicles in Two Hours

April 21, 2025

April 21, 2025

Rapid-Response Tech Aids in Back-To-Back Arrests on Sepulveda Culver City police officers recovered two stolen vehicles within a two-hour period...

Registration is Open for Harvard-Westlake Summer Programs

April 21, 2025

April 21, 2025

By Susan Payne Summer programs at Harvard-Westlake are open for registration.  Participants can experience renowned programs in academics, visual arts,...

Los Angeles City Attorney Sues Over Illegal Rentals, Wildfire Price Gouging

April 20, 2025

April 20, 2025

City Attorney Seeks Permanent Ban and Millions in Penalties for Operators City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto has filed a civil...

Culver City Moves the Needle on Housing and Growth in Monthly Pipeline Update

April 20, 2025

April 20, 2025

Monthly Development Report Shows Increase in Affordable Housing Culver City officials have released the latest updates to their Residential and...

Multi-Concept Asian Restaurant Coming to Prime Sunset Strip Corner

April 20, 2025

April 20, 2025

Round 1 Delicious Inks Lease for Asian Dining Concept in WeHo West Hollywood will be the location for a high-end...

Hollywood Legend Raquel Welch’s Former Home Changes Hands in Beverly Glen

April 20, 2025

April 20, 2025

The Late Actress’s Longtime Residence Sold for $3.1 Million More than two years after Raquel Welch’s passing, the late actress’s...

Heads-Up, Westside: Downtown Santa Monica Traffic to Increase with Pali High Move

April 20, 2025

April 20, 2025

Santa Monica Braces for School Traffic Surge Following Wildfire Displacement Drivers throughout Westside communities, from Brentwood to Pacific Palisades, should...

Rents Stay Stable, but Economic Shifts Threaten the Balance

April 20, 2025

April 20, 2025

Tariffs and Tight Supply Could End Flat Rent Streak After more than a year of minimal fluctuation, asking rents, or...