Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo (D-Chatsworth) signed onto a letter to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) opposing its vote on Thursday, Jan. 30, approving Southern California Edison’s latest rate hike proposal.

Schiavo was one of seven legislators to protest the increase, the others included: 24th District Senator Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), 42nd District Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks), 25th District Senator Sasha Renee Perez (D-Alhambra), 41st District Assemblymember John Harabedian (D-Sierra Madre), 21st District Senator Monique Limon (D-Santa Barbara) and 27th District Senator Henry Stern (D-Calabasas).

Schiavo represents the 40th Assembly District in Sacramento, which includes the Santa Clarita Valley and portions of northern Los Angeles County.

The approved increase forces ratepayers to cover the utility’s liability for the devastating 2017 Thomas Fire, raising concerns about additional costs being passed onto consumers for the 2018 Woolsey Fire and beyond.

“It is unconscionable to make ratepayers, who have already suffered through wildfires, power outages and displacement, shoulder the financial burden of corporate mismanagement,” said Schiavo. “Southern California Edison reported a net income of over half a billion dollars last quarter, and yet still they want to raise rates on hard working families and seniors who can’t afford another hit to their pocketbooks. My constituents have made it clear, these rate hikes are making it harder to afford everyday essentials and we must stand up against this unfair cost shift.”

The CPUC voted 4-0 in favor of permitting the rate increase, despite public opposition. The commission reportedly received dozens of complaints, all of which opposed the SCE’s settlement application and expressed “strong views against the commission authorizing any ratepayer rate increases to reimburse SCE for costs caused by the Thomas Fire and Montecito debris flows.”

With another proposed rate hike from SCE on the horizon to cover its $5.4 billion liability from the Woolsey Fire, legislators are calling on CPUC to adopt a more equitable approach to determining responsibility for wildfire costs.

District 23 Senator Suzette Martinez Valladares (R-Acton) issued a statement on Jan. 7 noting the rising cost of utilities, gas and insurance in California.

“The affordability crisis in California is out of control. Families in this state pay nearly double in utility bills over those in any other state, pay more for each gallon of gasoline than in any other state and struggle to find insurance for their homes that cost more than in any other state,” Valladares said.

The approval of the rate increase will see Southern California Edison customers cover more than $1.6 billion of the $2.7 billion that Edison paid to more than 5,000 victims of the fire. The rest will be paid by shareholders of the company.

A statement issued by Edison said it plans to minimize the impact on customers by spreading the cost over 30 years and that the ruling will see most customers with an increase of about $1 on their monthly bills.

The text of the letter sent on to the president of the California Public Utilities Commission. You can also download the letter here.

Alice Busching Reynolds

President, California Public Utilities Commission

300 Capitol Mall, Suite 500

Sacramento, CA 95814

RE: Southern California Edison Rate Hike Proposal: Thomas and Woolsey Fires Liability

Dear Ms. Reynolds,

We the undersigned members of the State Legislature write to express our concern about the rate hike proposal that was approved this morning related to Southern California Edison’s (SCE) liability for the 2017 Thomas Fire.

By allowing SCE to raise rates in order for customers to cover these damages, we are failing to hold them accountable, and instead passing their liability onto the residents of the region that bare no responsibility for the disaster.

We recognize that for fires after 2019, the Legislature established a $21 billion Wildfire Insurance Fund, enacted through Assembly Bill 1054 (Holden, 2019), to authorize utilities to securitize wildfire damage related costs over many years, which greatly reduces the impact on ratepayers. Unfortunately, that fund will not help with the decision here today, nor an additional SCE proposed rate hike to cover their $5.4 billion liability from the 2018 Woolsey Fire.

Those in regions prone to wildfires have already suffered the consequences of utility failure by being forced to endure power outages, property destruction, and displacement. It is reprehensible to require these same consumers to assume the financial responsibility for corporate mismanagement and infrastructure deficiencies. If SCE is allowed to pass these costs onto its customers, ratepayers will be seeing surcharges on their bills in relation to these fires for 30 years into the future.

Further, this would be done at a time when, according to recent CalMatters reporting, SCE’s approved shareholder rate of return is already the highest in California, and the company boasted a net income for the 2024 third quarter of over a half billion dollars, a 232.9% increase year-over-year.

The cost of living in California has become a primary point of concern for our constituents, especially the many individuals on fixed income who are sending larger and larger portions of their monthly income to the pockets of these shareholder-run utilities. Legislative leadership recently called out the cost of living as a top priority for the 2025-26 Session ahead, and we now have an excellent opportunity to take action in this righteous cause.

We urge you to adopt a more equitable framework to minimize ratepayer costs going forward. We stand ready to work with you to implement these changes.

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