Escalation of Fire Incidents Linked to Southern California Edison Equipment
In a troubling development, Southern California Edison (SCE) reported a staggering increase in fire ignitions attributed to its equipment in 2024, with incidents rising by nearly 60% compared to the previous year. This surge primarily involved smaller blazes that were swiftly extinguished, highlighting the utility’s ongoing struggle to avert catastrophic fires in the lead-up to the devastating wildfires that swept through Los Angeles.
Recent disclosures from SCE, a subsidiary of Edison International, indicated that the increase in fire incidents occurred just before a series of wildfires wreaked havoc in the metropolitan Los Angeles area at the beginning of the year. The utility is currently facing numerous lawsuits alleging that its equipment was responsible for the Eaton Canyon fire, one of the most significant wildfires in the region. Although SCE has not determined the official cause of the fire, the uncertainty continues to raise concerns.
SCE’s ignition reports reveal a concerning trend, with a marked rise in incidents throughout 2024, especially in regions designated as high-fire threat districts. According to data released by the utility this month, there were a total of 135 fire ignition events within SCE’s service area during 2024, up from 86 in 2023. Notably, there were 35 incidents reported in high-fire threat districts in 2024, a significant increase from the 19 incidents recorded the previous year.
The utility has attributed this spike in fire ignitions to a combination of low humidity, dry vegetation, and high winds. David Eisenhauer, a spokesperson for SCE, emphasized the concern surrounding these factors, stating, “We are worried when we experience all three.” He further noted that weather conditions were largely beyond the utility’s control.
- Fire ignition events typically encompass various scenarios, including:
- Equipment failures
- Wire-to-wire contact
- Lightning strikes in high-risk zones
- Wire contact with dried vegetation and foreign objects, such as balloons
Over the past decade, SCE’s data reveals an average of approximately 120 fire ignitions annually within its operational territory. The California Public Utility Commission mandates that utilities report any ignition incidents involving their equipment, particularly when the resulting fire spreads beyond one meter. Fortunately, these fires tend to be minor and are usually extinguished before causing significant damage.
The Eaton Canyon fire alone scorched about 14,000 acres, with Jefferies analyst Paul Zimbardo estimating the damage costs to reach approximately $22 billion before factoring in any potential settlement discounts.
Efforts to mitigate fire ignition events are integral to the performance evaluations for senior executives at Edison International. For instance, a decrease in fire incidents in 2023 contributed to EIX Chief Executive Pedro Pizarro receiving a cash bonus of $1.85 million that year.
As the demand for electricity surges and wild weather events become increasingly common in California, SCE is under pressure to upgrade and replace aging transmission lines, towers, and other infrastructure that pose a fire risk in an area grappling with severe drought conditions. The utility is working to catch up with rising infrastructure failure rates, which have been exacerbated by equipment obsolescence. According to testimony from SCE executives before the California Public Utility Commission, they stated, “The combination of age, obsolescence, and outdated designs that fail to meet current standards leads to a higher likelihood of safety incidents and outages, as well as prolonged outages when they do occur.”
For example, SCE reported more than 1,000 downed-wire incidents in 2022, alongside 43 explosions linked to underground equipment failures. In a recent letter to the CPUC, SCE acknowledged that the Los Angeles Fire Department suspects its equipment may have caused the Hurst Fire, which burned approximately 800 acres in January. Fire officials indicated that the blaze appeared to have originated near an SCE tower that was carrying high-voltage transmission lines which subsequently fell to the ground.
