Edison is increasing compensation for Eaton fire victims, but some say it’s not enough

Southern California Edison has increased the number of victims of the Eaton fire who are eligible to claim for damages in a recent compensation proposal, although some Altadena residents say the utility program is still lacking.

After talking to residents about the plan It was released in July Edison said it has decided to expand the range of homes that are eligible for compensation for smoke damage.

“Expanding the scope of capability is one of the most important updates that resulted from feedback,” said Pedro Pizarro, CEO of Edison International, the utility’s parent company. “The number of eligible properties nearly doubled for those with smoke, soot or ash damage.”

The utility has also increased the amount of compensation it is offering for some victims. For example, each child in a family who lost their home would be eligible to receive $75,000 for pain and suffering, up from $50,000 in the original plan.

To receive utility underpayments Forest Fire Recovery Compensation ProgramThe family had to agree to drop their lawsuit against the utility for the Jan. 7 fire.

The program is also open to businesses that have lost income and renters that have lost property. And it covers those who have been physically injured or have family members who have died.

Edison is launching a victim compensation program while government arson investigators have not released their report on the cause of the fire. The fire ripped through Altadena, destroying 9,400 homes and other structures and killing 19 people.

Videos captured a fire burning under a century-old transmission line in Eaton Canyon that Edison hasn’t used since 1971, and Pizarro said a leading theory is that the line was somehow re-energized and ignited the fire. Edison said in a federal securities filing this week that “absent additional evidence, SCE believes it is likely that its equipment will be found to be related to the fire.”

In documents detailing its latest compensation plan, the utility includes the example of a family of four whose 1,500-square-foot home was destroyed. The family will receive $900,000 for restitution, $360,000 for personal property, $140,000 for loss of use and $380,000 for pain and suffering. It will also receive a $200,000 “direct claim premium” for agreeing to an out-of-court settlement.

That $1,980,000 total is then reduced by the family’s $1 million in insurance coverage, according to the company’s example.

On Thursday, state Sen. Sasha Renee Perez (D-Pasadena) sent a letter to Edison saying she was concerned about how exploitation requires victims to waive their future legal rights to receive compensation. And she called on Edison to provide immediate housing assistance to fire victims.

“Acknowledging her possible role in starting the Eaton fire, Edison must do everything within her power to prioritize the needs of survivors and make that commitment a core part of her corporate job,” she wrote to Pizarro. “This means ensuring that fire victims can rebuild and rebuild their lives with the support they are owed.”

Edison expects to be reimbursed for most or all of the payments to victims from the $21 billion state wildfire fund that Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers created in 2019 to protect the utility from bankruptcy. Wildfire fund managers told members of the state’s Disaster Response Council this week that they expect claims from the Eaton fire to be “in the tens of billions of dollars.”

In September, Newsom signed a bill that would boost money available for future wildfires by another $18 billion. Under the bill, Edison is allowed to raise electricity rates for any Eaton firefighting costs that exceed the original $21 billion fund.

Some survivors of the Eaton fire told the council, which oversees the bushfire fund, that Edison’s program failed to fully cover the damage suffered by victims. Joy Chen, chief executive of the Eaton Fire Protection Network, recently sent a report to the council outlining her group’s failings. For example, Chen said, Edison deducts full homeowner’s insurance coverage from the compensation amount even if the insurer reimburses the family for only a portion of that amount.

“Nine months after Edison’s negligence disrupted our lives, the numbers are clear,” the group’s report says. “Many have reduced retirement savings, maxed out credit cards, or found marriages and health under pressure.”

“You destroyed our homes, our lives and our community,” the report said of Edison. “Fix what you broke.”

China’s group joined Perez in urging Edison to provide emergency housing for victims.

Addison said the program is designed to “help the community and rebuild quickly.” The utility said a report by RAND, the nonprofit research group it hired to evaluate the compensation plan, determined the payout amounts “used state-of-the-art statistical methods and were, in our judgment, thoughtfully conducted and well executed.”

Addison said victims can start filing claims now and it expects to get back to them with an offer within 90 days.