Labor practice controversy
In 2015, Southern California Edison laid off about 400 IT employees, with an additional 100 IT workers leaving voluntarily. Meanwhile, the utility company hired immigrants from India through Infosys, based in Bangalore, and Tata Consultancy Services in Mumbai, which are among the largest users of H-1B visas. SCE was subsequently investigated by the US Department of Labor for potential H1-B visa abuse.
Disasters and Litigation
Major wildfires have been caused by Southern California Edison's equipment.
1996 Calabasas Fire
The Calabasas Fire was a wildfire that burned in October 1996, destroying six structures, burning 13,010 acres, and threatening the campus of Pepperdine University. During the subsequent investigation, Edison refused to provide certain documents to Cal Fire investigators. Suspecting that these documents might reveal more information, Cal Fire had one of their investigators pose as an architecture student to gain entry to Edison's office and develop floor plans for a raid. Investigators ultimately found that Edison's equipment had started the fire. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office investigated the possibility of criminal conduct and concluded that while Edison had not been diligent in monitoring the trees near its power lines and that it had destroyed evidence during the investigation into the cause of the fire, its conduct did not rise to the level of criminality. Following the raid, Edison and the government also entered an agreement on future procedures for investigations on wildfire causes.
Creek Fire (2017)
The Creek Fire was a wildfire that burned in Los Angeles from December 5, 2017 to January 9, 2018. It destroyed 123 structures.
Initially, scrutiny fell on the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) for causing the fire, and they were sued by over 300 fire victims and the federal government. However, it was discovered during the litigation process that at the time of the initial investigation, SCE had provided incomplete data. Specifically, SCE had provided data for its equipment on December 4 but not December 5 (the day the fire started), and the new data for December 5 revealed that an electrical fault had taken place at the time that the Creek Fire started. In light of this new data, a federal investigator concluded that the Creek Fire had been caused by SCE's equipment. The federal government is currently suing SCE for both causing the fire and withholding evidence. The government also alleges that SCE violated the agreement they made following the 1996 Calabasas fire and intentionally pinned the blame on the LADWP. SCE denies all of these allegations, including that they started the fire, claiming that the only reason they provided data for the wrong day was because of a mistake made by one of their employees early in the process.
Thomas Fire
The Thomas Fire was a wildfire that burned in Ventura County and Santa Barbara from December 2017 to January 2018. It destroyed over 1,000 structures and killed two people, as well as destabilized the soil, which led to mudflows in Montecito that killed 23 people and destroyed over 100 homes. An official investigation concluded that Edison's equipment was responsible for starting both the Koenigstein Fire and the Thomas Fire. Edison paid over $2.7 billion in settlements related to the fire and mudslides.
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On January 30, 2025, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) unanimously approved SCE's request to raise their rates to cover over $1.6 billion in payments made to Thomas Fire victims. This was opposed by numerous residents of Los Angeles, who argued that customers who had already been affected by wildfires should not have to bear responsibility for Edison's mistakes, and that the decision would fail to hold Edison accountable and lead to further inaction on their part. Seven state legislators also wrote a letter to the head of the CPUC expressing opposition to the rate hike. In return, Edison asserted that they would spread the costs over 30 years to minimize the financial impact on customers.
Woolsey Fire
The Woolsey Fire was a wildfire that burned in Los Angeles County and Ventura County in November 2018, destroying 1,643 structures and killing three people. In 2020, the CPUC released a report concluding that the fire was caused by Edison's electrical equipment. Edison later paid $2.2 billion in settlements related to the fire.
The California Department of Justice investigated the possibility of filing criminal charges against SCE but ultimately decided not to, finding that while SCE's equipment and poor vegetation control had led to the fire, their conduct did not rise to the level of criminality. The decision not to prosecute was criticized by attorneys representing fire victims. Politico later reported that just days before this announcement, California Attorney General Rob Bonta had received a $72,500 donation from SCE. A spokesperson for Bonta said that this was caused by a miscommunication and that Bonta would return the money.
Eaton Fire
The Eaton Fire was a wildfire that burned in the Eaton Canyon of the San Gabriel Mountains in January 2025 and spread into nearby foothill communities, most notably Altadena. It killed 19 people and destroyed over 9,000 buildings, making it the second most destructive wildfire in California history.
The cause of the Eaton Fire is still under investigation, but witness reports and video evidence have connected it to transmission lines owned by Edison in the Eaton Canyon, and Edison has reported that a fault on its lines occurred at around the time the fire started. The Los Angeles Times reported that several months prior, regulators had criticized Edison for falling behind in inspecting transmission lines in high-risk areas and for failing to find dangerous problems in inspections. Furthermore, in the three years leading up to the fire, regulators had criticized Edison's practice of checking wind speed every ten minutes, arguing that this could fail to capture the severity of a situation and miss high gusts, in contrast to other nearby utilities that check wind speed every thirty seconds. In response, Edison has highlighted the existing work they have done to reduce wildfire risk, cautioned against jumping to conclusions, and suggested that a nearby homeless encampment may have been responsible for starting the fire. They also stated that they believe they acted prudently even if their lines were responsible for the fire. Lawyers representing fire victims have also criticized Edison for re-energizing the power lines under suspicion in mid-January; they argued that this was done to destroy physical evidence linking their equipment to the fire, while Edison argued that it was a necessary step to return power to customers.
Some victims of the fire, including people who lost homes and families of people who died in the fire, have sued SCE. Four lawsuits were filed on January 13, alleging that the company had "violated public safety and utility codes and was negligent in its handling of power safety shut-offs". On January 16, the family of a person who died in the fire sued SCE for wrongful death, also alleging negligence in SCE's failure to deactivate utilities despite a red flag warning being issued due to fast Santa Ana winds. Los Angeles County, Pasadena, and Sierra Madre also announced plans to sue Edison.
NPR has reported that while the fire was ongoing, Edison reactivated power lines despite firefighters requesting they keep them off. This resulted in downed power lines sparking new fires.
In September 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Southern California Edison, claiming that the public utility company was at fault for the fire.
Other fires
Edison's equipment has also been found to be the cause of other fires, including the 2007 Malibu Canyon Fire, Liberty Fire, Meyers Fire, Rye Fire, Easy Fire, Bobcat Fire, Silverado Fire, Coastal Fire, the Fairview Fire, and possibly also the Hurst Fire and the Eaton Fire.
