Southern California Edison (SCE) International will pay out more than $2 billion in insurance claims to settle court cases over a 2018 wildfire.
SCE International is one of the largest electric utilities in the nation, providing electricity to approximately 15 million residents over 50,000 square miles throughout Central, Coastal and Southern California.
Edison, which has not claimed wrongdoing from the incident, will pay approximately $2.2 billion dollars to resolve pending lawsuits and insurance claims related to the Woolsey Fire. The wildfire burned 151 square miles within Los Angeles and Ventura counties, destroying more than 1,600 homes and buildings, as well as killing three.
The settlements included approximately 1,000 individual plaintiffs.
“We have made another significant step toward resolving pending wildfire-related litigation. The company continues to explore reasonable settlement opportunities with other parties," Edison CEO and President Pedro J. Pizarro said.
Edison International has also finalized settlements with suits from the December 2017 Thomas Fire and mudslides.
In a public statement, SCE wrote, “Our thoughts are with communities across the state that are suffering losses due to wildfire. At SCE, safety remains our first and highest priority. SCE continues to implement measures to reduce wildfire risk as outlined in its latest Wildfire Mitigation Plan.”
In the Woolsey settlement, plaintiffs will receive funds within 90 days, less any setoffs for insurance claims payments they have already received. SCE may also pay additional funds to claims through July of 2023, based upon future agreements made by policyholders.
SCE estimated the total amount of losses and damages from the 2017 and 2018 incidents to be around $4.6 billion, excluding potential fines and penalties. SCE also has to pay approximately $700 million in projected insurance recoveries from the Woolsey fire.