Edison Unit Faces Double Legal Whammy From Fires, Mudslides
- Utility faces billions of dollars in exposure, JPMorgan says
- SCE says it’s too soon to speculate about causes or litigation
An Edison crew member checks downed power lines near Sylmar, California.
Photographer: Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Edison International’s Southern California Edison utility is already facing claims that it’s to blame for the biggest wildfire in state history. Now it’s also being accused of triggering fatal mudslides.
The two are intertwined: Lawyers seeking to prove the utility’s equipment caused the fires are also trying to show that the slides only happened after a heavy rainstorm because the vegetation that held the soil in place was scorched weeks earlier.