What we know about Edison and the Eaton fire
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Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
- Did Edison equipment have a role in the Eaton fire?
- How an L.A. snowboarder, with no phone and wearing a hoodie, survived two nights in frigid mountains.
- Your next great bottle of wine might come from this under-the-radar California region.
- And here’s today’s e-newspaper.
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Edison is back in a familiar hot seat
Southern California Edison is under familiar scrutiny as investigators work to determine whether the utility’s equipment sparked the deadly Eaton fire earlier this month.
Edison provides power for millions of residents in Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange and a dozen other counties in the Golden State. The company has been found at fault for a few major wildfires in Southern California in recent years, including the 2017 Thomas fire and 2018’s Woolsey fire.
Now, facing multiple lawsuits from homeowners and a temporary restraining order, Edison has revealed more information about its equipment as investigators focus on an electrical transmission tower that may hold answers.
Residents reported seeing flames at the base of the tower perched above Eaton Canyon, visible in photos and videos shared online.
Two days after the fire started, the utility company reported that an early analysis showed “no interruptions or electrical or operational anomalies until more than one hour after the reported start time of the fire.”
But this week, SCE told state regulators that power lines over Eaton Canyon saw a surge in current just before the fire was first reported. The utility stated that a fault in a line about five miles away sent the increased current across its lines over Eaton Canyon.
“That equipment is now part of an expanded court order for Edison to preserve data and hardware that could shed some light as to what exactly caused the deadly blaze,” Times reporter Salvador Hernandez wrote this week.
Critics say the delay in reporting the surge to investigators only raises more questions.
“They had a duty to tell the regulator,” Loretta Lynch, former president of the California Public Utilities Commission, told Salvador. “They either didn’t know, which should strike fear in the heart of every Californian that the utility didn’t know that their system failed, or they did know, and the question is why didn’t they say.”
Edison wants ratepayers to cover the cost of damages for its role in previous wildfires.
The state Public Utilities Commission is meeting today (Thursday) and will consider Edison’s request to bill its customers to cover the cost of the $1.6 billion in damages it paid to victims of the deadly 2017 Thomas fire in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
The commission will hear a similar request from Edison at a later meeting to allow it to charge ratepayers for the $5.4 billion in damages it paid out after being found liable for the 2018 Woolsey fire in Ventura and Los Angeles counties.
“If both measures are approved, Edison customers will have a roughly 2% surcharge on their bills for the next 30 years, according to regulatory documents,” The Times’ Melody Petersen explained. “That means the average monthly bill for a residential customer, now $177, would rise to $181.”
Edison’s equipment ignited both wildfires, investigations found. Edison also violated multiple state safety regulations and impeded investigations, according to utility regulators.
More recently, federal officials have accused Edison of withholding evidence that implicated its equipment as the cause of 2017’s Creek fire.
The company has denied the accusation and that it was responsible for that 2017 blaze.
What about the Palisades fire?
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is leading the investigation into what caused the deadly fire in Pacific Palisades and Malibu, but it appears to be more of a mystery at this point.
The probe has centered on a popular hiking trail where the blaze is believed to have started on the morning of Jan. 7.
“Investigators have scoured each part of the trail and hillside, breaking it down into a grid,” my colleagues Richard Winton and Hannah Fry reported this week. “They have examined 250 leads, obtained 90 hours of relevant video and conducted 50 interviews.”
Sources with knowledge of the probe told Richard and Hannah that the fire appears to have human origins, and they have two leading theories.
Theory one: The fire was a reignition of a small brush fire that started on New Year’s Eve and was knocked down in the same general area. Fire officials believe that earlier blaze was sparked by holiday fireworks.
Theory two: The fire was entirely separate and started on Jan. 7 in a so-far unknown way.
“The ATF is seeking to issue a report on the cause of the fire in about 60 days,” they wrote. “That would be considerably faster than for the deadly August 2023 fire on the Hawaiian island of Maui, which took a year. But that may depend on whether more sophisticated tests are needed back at the bureau’s Maryland fire lab.”
Today’s top stories
Waymo is getting ready to tackle Los Angeles’ freeways. How have the robotaxis fared so far?
- The company is set to take on the most L.A. of frontiers: the freeways.
- Despite its solid track record, there have been several accidents and technological blips since the rollout of Waymo One. The company recalled 444 vehicles last February after two minor collisions in quick succession, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation in May into 31 incidents that raised safety concerns.
- The company has also faced scrutiny over security concerns after members of the public have interfered with the vehicles, damaged them and attempted to steal them.
Immigration arrests in churches? Some clergy say not so fast
- The Trump administration rescinded a policy that prohibited immigration agents from making arrests in sensitive areas, such as hospitals, schools and churches.
- Faith leaders in Southern California and beyond say they are prepared to aid and even shelter immigrants.
- “We have an executive order from God, not from politicians,” said Guillermo Torres, who leads immigration campaigns at Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, a nonprofit advocacy group in Los Angeles.
A Trump executive order seeks to defund providers of gender transition care for youth
- The move comes a week after Trump ordered that the U.S. government recognize only two sexes that are “not changeable.”
- Many steps “will take time and require agencies to take individual actions, and work through guidance and rulemaking processes. Those are typically not fast-moving, and, in addition, litigation will inevitably challenge implementation of policies detailed here,” said Lindsey Dawson, director for LGBTQ health policy with the independent research organization KFF.
What else is going on
- Everyone aboard an American Airlines jet that collided with an Army helicopter is feared dead.
- A bill providing one year of mortgage relief for L.A. fire victims is moving forward.
- California’s federal lands are hemorrhaging carbon dioxide. Wildfires are largely to blame.
- He was worried about who won the election. Meanwhile, he won the lottery.
- Low math and English scores mark the nation’s report card, California and L.A. included.
- Is Trump pushing his presidential powers beyond what the Constitution allows?
- Women met him in an L.A. rave’s ‘drug room.’ He says their deaths weren’t his fault.
- Beaches are closed indefinitely from Malibu to Playa del Rey because of fire debris runoff.
- How to watch the FireAid benefit shows at Kia Forum and Intuit Dome.
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Commentary and opinions
- More than half of women don’t like Trump this time around, writes columnist Anita Chabria.
- For L.A. County Supervisor Barger, the right to rebuild in Altadena is nonnegotiable, columnist Steve Lopez writes.
- Orange County once was an anti-immigrant hotbed, writes columnist Gustavo Arellano. What changed?
- OpenAI accuses China of stealing its content, the same accusation that authors have made against OpenAI, writes columnist Michael Hiltzik.
- The disaster aid California needs shouldn’t come with conditions, columnist Jackie Calmes writes.
This morning’s must reads
Your next great bottle of wine might come from this under-the-radar California region. The Santa Cruz Mountain range has long been a region for growing Burgundy grape varieties but fell off the radar in recent decades. Now, a new generation of winemakers is leading a revolution that’s helping to redefine California wine.
Other must reads
- Their homes were their legacies. Now they face the unthinkable: What if they can’t rebuild?
- A tourist visa approval crisis threatens to cost 2026 World Cup and L.A. Olympics millions.
- He was both fire captain and prolific arsonist. His novel put him in prison.
- How an L.A. snowboarder, with no phone and wearing a hoodie, survived two nights in frigid mountains.
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to [email protected].
For your downtime
Going out
- ♨️Ten serene hot springs in California to heal your weary soul.
- 🎭At last, Larissa FastHorse is the first Native American playwright at Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. Her farcical comedy, “Fake It Until You Make It”, began performances Wednesday.
Staying in
- 🎥 A new Sean Combs doc reveals fresh allegations: Biggest takeaways from ‘The Fall of Diddy.’
- 🍲 Here’s a recipe for Little Fish and Chainsaw’s vegan carrot ginger soup.
- ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.
A question for you: What movie do you think should win the Oscar for best picture?
Bronwyn Jamrok writes: “It wasn’t nominated, but I think ‘Sing Sing’ was the best movie of the year. It was inspiring, relatable, realistic, and beautiful. I think many Americans will have a hard time relating to many of the best picture nominees, and it’s too bad that the Academy won’t draw more viewers in with this is gorgeous human story. It’s also too bad that ‘Sing Sing’ wasn’t widely distributed. My fingers are crossed for Colman Domingo to win best actor.”
Email us at [email protected], and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.
And finally ... from our archives
On Jan. 30, 1972, the front page of the Los Angeles Times featured a story about California becoming one of the first states to adopt the use of street signs with symbols instead of words. Their introduction on freeways and local streets was part of a changeover to the simplified international method of symbol signing.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Defne Karabatur, fellow
Andrew Campa, Sunday reporter
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Hunter Clauss, multiplatform editor
Christian Orozco, assistant editor
Stephanie Chavez, deputy metro editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
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