ROSEMEAD – A southern California utility claims that it cannot be held financially responsible for the destruction of personal property in a fire that its equipment allegedly caused.
Southern California Edison recently asked a state judge to rule that it not be subject to liability for the loss of personal property in the 2018 Woolsey Fire because the utility is supposedly prohibited from passing the costs on to its consumers.
The Southern California Record reached out to the California Public Utilities Commission for comment and was told via email by Terrie Prosper, director of the CPUC’s news and outreach office that, “If customers cannot work out claims issues with their utility, another option is to take their case to small claims court.”
The CPUC has already denied a request from Sempra Energy to offset costs from a 2007 wildfire through an increase in rates, reported the Los Angeles Times. Sempra fought to overturn the CPUC's decision for years, but that fight ended in October when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the case.
Investigators have determined that Edison was at fault for the Woolsey Fire and litigation is slated to begin next year.
The state’s inverse condemnation doctrine maintains that utilities are fully obligated to restitute for damages sustained through their equipment regardless if the utility was or wasn’t negligent, the Los Angeles Times also reported.
KTLA reported that Edison has agreed to a $360 million settlement with local governments in both the Woolsey Fire and Thomas Fire but the utility did not admit to any wrongdoing in the settlement. The payout does not include private lawsuits.
Malibu resident and former Relativity Media CEO Ryan Kavanaugh recently filed a complaint in Los Angeles County Superior Court against Edison claiming that the utility failed on many levels to obviate the wildfire, said the Hollywood Reporter.
The Woolsey Fire burned approximately 97,000 acres, killed three people, decimated more than 1,500 structures and destroyed nearly $6 billion in real estate.