The California Public Interest Business Committee has voted on Thursday and has allowed Edison in Southern California to raise electricity rates to cover the catastrophic 2017 Thomas Wildfire.
Investigators have discovered that utility equipment has caused one of the largest flames in California history. The devastation of the fire also helped to promote the devastating flow of Montesito, and 23 died.
Without debate, the committee approved the interest rate hike in 4-0 votes. This voting means that more than $ 1.6 billion out of 2.7 billion dollars paid by Edison to more than 5,000 victims of the fire is covered by customers. The rest will be paid by the shareholder of the profit organization.
Edison stated that it is planning to minimize the impact on customers by expanding costs for more than 30 years. Most customers said that about $ 1 monthly invoices would increase.
The committee member is a fare, despite the dozens of written comments that say that it is not fair to pay the cost of a wildfire that the investigators of the state and local governments have started by utility devices. Approved the pulling up.
“It is ruthless that Edison forced customers to make a bill for complete negligence, and to release the duty to provide safe and reliable services,” Emma, a resident of Los Angeles. Mary is writing. She added that such actions, “I don’t teach them anything and lead to more and more unusual Abyss on the Edison side.”
Edison said in a press release last year that he “operated the system carefully and managed more than what the regulatory authorities need,” and objections to the investigator’s claim that it caused a fire. I sang.
“The climate change is driving a catastrophic mountain fire,” said Pedro Pizaroid, president of Edison International, “SCE will continue to work to relieve its effects.”
The company also called on the committee to approve the second increase of $ 5.4 billion with the catastrophic wool -fire victims in 2018. The investigator discovered that Edison’s equipment had caused the fire.
In total, two proposals increase by more than 2 %.
California’s electricity rates are the second highest in Japan. According to a December report by the Public Advancement Bureau of the Utility Committee, Edison’s rate has increased by 48 % in the past three years.
After the vote, Alice Reynolds, the president of the committee, said that if she and other members did not approve the settlement agreement, they could lead to a lawsuit “with unknown results.”
Reynolds and other members of the other committee were appointed by Governor Gabin New Sam.
She said the committee was operating under the legal standards of 2019. It stated that it was found that the company would act “carefully”, although a public fare was caused by a utility bill.
The 2019 law, known as AB 1054, created a wildfire insurance fund. Thomas and Woolsie’s fire occurred before the law was passed, so there is no money qualification from a fund.
Edison’s equipment has been scrutinized in the wake of Altadena’s Eaton Fire Storm, killing at least 17 people and destroying thousands of houses and companies.
The victim’s leading lawyer points to a video of a mobile phone taken by a witness showing the first flame under the power station of the Eaton Canyon company.
Edison said he was conducting its own investigations in cooperation with government fire investigators who investigated Inferno.
In 2017, Thomas Fire passed through the Ventura and Santa Barbara County, destroying more than 1,000 structures, causing two deaths.
Investigator said on December 4, 2017 that Edison’s equipment was the cause of two separate ignitions near Santa Pola. The two fires were finally integrated.
A Cal Fire and Ventura County investigator stated that one ignition was caused by igniting a dried brush with a drop in electric wires. An investigator said that two wires would be pounded together and releasing molten metals to vegetation.
The Committee’s Safety Execution Section later stated that it had violated five rules and regulations, including failure in cooperation with investigators.
In January 2018, while the fire was still burning, the heavy rain led to the debris in Montesito. Authorities said that the mud and some of the rocks were partially kicked out due to the effects of vegetation and soil.
Edison claims that the device was not responsible for one of the two ignition. He says he does not agree to the safety of the committee and the survey of the executive department. It means that it violated rules or regulations, including claims that the cooperation with the investigator failed.
Terrie Prosper, a spokeswoman for the committee, stated that the institutional execution staff had identified the violation, but the committee approved the 2021 agreement with Edison and found a violation related to Thomas’ fire. 。 As part of the contract, Edison agreed with a $ 55 billion penalty for multiple wildfires, including Thomas Fire.
Edison stated that it would blame the damage and death caused by the flow of Montesito’s debris in the “flood control infrastructure and shortage of evacuation communication”.
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