Re: You mentioned Edison, another Cali UTE and they have SCE-G,J,K,L,M and N, with c
I think Edison is paying more because SoCalEdison is under pressure because of the LA wildfires.
There are lawsuits saying their equipment caused at least one of the big fires. If that turns out to be true (CalFire will eventually issue a report on the cause), then Edison will be on the hook for a lot of money. In California, the law on liability is not based on negligence - if Edison's equipment caused the fire, they are almost guaranteed to be liable even if they weren't negligent.
However - this happens to CA utilities all the time. PCG got hit with some huge liability for about half a dozen massive fires over the last 7 years or so. They were convicted of felonies, and they killed hundreds of people in addition to causing massive damage, including burning the entire town of Paradise... Enough that they went through BK for the second time in about 10 years (IIRC). However, their preferreds (and even the common) all survived both BKs just fine.
CA utilities carry a lot of insurance, the state set up "backup" insurance, and our sleazebag governor recently strengthened the backstops even further. Personally, I don't think it will hurt them very much if they are found to be the cause - but that is just my opinion. |
