Edison Has Miles of Idle Power Lines in High Fire Risk Zones

(Bloomberg) -- Edison International’s Southern California utility has 465 miles of unused power lines like the one accused of sparking January’s deadly Eaton Fire and is now weighing whether some should be removed, the parent company’s CEO said.

Lawyers suing the company allege that an idle line taken out of service in 1971 briefly became re-energized on Jan. 7, creating an electric arc that sparked the blaze. Edison Chief Executive Officer Pedro Pizarro said the company often keeps such idle lines in place, rather than taking them down, in case that route for electricity is needed again. Removing the equipment could cause some of the property easements for those power lines to lapse, he said. 

“They give us optionality,” Pizarro said Friday during an interview at Bloomberg’s Los Angeles bureau. “We’re the kind of company that has to think in decades.”

More than half of the idle lines — about 250 miles — run through areas at high risk of wildfires, he said. All are regularly inspected and maintained, he said. Edison is now evaluating whether some should go, although Pizarro said “I think it is unlikely that we’d take them all down.” 

Utilities across the US West face mounting scrutiny over devastating fires that have sparked near their power lines. In just the past few years, electric providers from Hawaii to Texas have been blamed for igniting blazes that caused billions of dollars in damages. It’s a major risk that will persist in a warming world that’s contributing to devastating droughts.

Dozens of lawsuits allege Edison’s equipment started the Eaton Fire, which tore through the middle-class community of Altadena and killed 17 people. On Wednesday, Los Angeles County and two cities sued the company to recoup damages from the blaze. State fire officials, however, have not yet announced a cause for the fire, and their investigation could take months to complete.

LA Fire Victims Are Suing Utilities. What’s at Stake?: QuickTake

If it’s found to have caused the Eaton Fire, Edison may face billions of dollars of liability exposure. The company is eligible to tap a $21 billion, state-created insurance fund to help utilities avoid bankruptcy. As the lawsuits against Edison mount, however, investors increasingly worry the fund will be depleted.

Pizarro said Friday that utility customers should contribute more money to the fund, with shareholders on the hook if the company is found to be imprudent, echoing a position already taken by the CEO of California’s largest electricity supplier, PG&E Corp. The fund was established in wake of PG&E’s 2019 bankruptcy, with half of the money coming from utility shareholders and half from customers. 

Even if the initial spark for the Eaton Fire came from Edison’s power line, other factors — including high winds and home construction in a high-risk area — contributed to the devastation, Pizarro said. 

“There’s just so many things that come together to create a catastrophe, and utility shareholders cannot finance all of that risk for society,” he said. “The spark alone did not create the catastrophe.”

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.