Edison CEO Says Wildfire Reform Must Come In 2026 — 'Period, Full Stop' — As CFO Prices Delay At $300 Million
Edison's CFO says elevated credit spreads could cost customers $300 million on SCE's 2027 bonds alone, with a November 15 bill deadline looming.
Edison International CEO Pedro Pizarro said on the company's Thursday third-quarter earnings call that waiting until 2027 for wildfire liability reform is off the table, and CFO Aaron Moss put a number on the cost of delay: $300 million in added customer costs over the life of the bonds Southern California Edison expects to issue in 2027 alone.
A $300 million price on waiting
Moss said the credit spreads now in place, which raise what the utility pays to borrow, could cost customers that incremental $300 million on the 2027 bond issuance alone. Pizarro called it "a staggering number" and said PG&E has cited similar figures.
Asked whether utilities might think 2027 a better year to try again after the legislature's earlier efforts, Pizarro answered flatly. "It is in our customers' interest to have action in 2026. Period, full stop," he said.
Moss said the elevated spreads have been in place since January of 2025 and that costs which enter the cycle take a long time to leave, because the debt finances long-term investments. He added that rating agencies have not said they will wait on 2027, and that further downgrades would take time to unwind even after reform. "There is no fatigue on the behalf of the utilities," he said.
November 15 and the 2029 rate case
Pizarro said the state Constitution requires any bill to reach the governor before November 15, and that this legislature is no longer in place as of November 30. A special session bill would need to meet that date, he said; otherwise the effort passes to the next legislature. He said openness to a special session may exist but is "certainly not guaranteed."
The utilities want a durable source of liquidity for paying claims and a shareholder liability cap not tied to the wildfire fund. If reform fails, Pizarro said, SCE would ask for less capital in its 2029 general rate case, due to be filed in about six months, for electrification and clean-energy projects, giving priority to safety, reliability and compliance. A drop below investment grade would add costs, he said.
Moss told an analyst that about 22% of the capital plan through 2030 is load growth and interconnection costs, the piece to focus on.
Results and the Eaton Fire
Edison reported third-quarter core earnings of $1.92 a share, against $2.34 a year earlier, when results included a 55-cent true-up from SCE's rate case decision. The company reaffirmed 2026 core guidance of $5.90 to $6.20, with a bias toward the middle, and said it forecasts no common equity issuance through 2030.
On the Eaton Fire, Pizarro said Los Angeles County Fire Department reports concluded SCE equipment caused the ignition. He said SCE remains confident it can show it acted as a reasonable utility and sees no basis for felony liability or willful disregard. SCE has extended more than 3,200 offers totaling about $1.1 billion through its compensation program, whose deadline is November 30.
Pizarro said the utilities are working toward a bill reaching the governor by November 15; an analyst on the call said a CPUC report is due within days.
Sources
- Edison Non-GAAP EPS of $1.92 beats by $0.11, revenue of $4.88B misses by $460M (EIX:NYSE) | Seeking Alpha — seekingalpha.com
- Edison International: Q3 Earnings Snapshot – WTOP News — wtop.com
- Edison International Set to Report Q3 Earnings: What's in the Cards? — Yahoo Finance
- Judge preserves Eaton Fire claims against Southern California Edison (EIX:NYSE) | Seeking Alpha — seekingalpha.com
- Edison International Reports Third Quarter 2026 Results — businesswire.com
