Edison’s announcement, made 108 days after the voluntary Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program launched on October 29, 2025, comes as SCE faces dozens of lawsuits alleging its equipment caused the blaze that killed 19 people and burned 14,021 acres.
Edison compensation claimants who accept an offer must sign a settlement agreement waiving their right to sue Edison — a requirement that fire survivors and plaintiffs’ attorneys have publicly criticized.
As of February 13, 2,345 claims have been submitted on behalf of 6,778 individuals, according to the company’s news release. Of those, SCE said 507 offers have been extended to 1,457 individuals, and 71 payments have been made or are in process, totaling more than $15 million.
“We know how deeply the Eaton Fire affected the community. This program is one way we’re working with clarity and compassion to support those impacted and help them move forward,” Pedro J. Pizarro, president and CEO of Edison International, SCE’s parent company, said in the news release. “Reaching 500 offers reflects our commitment to helping the community recover as swiftly as possible.”
Andrew Wessels, strategy director for the Eaton Fire Survivors Network, offered a different assessment.
“It’s been over a year since the fire and Edison has only now done something for 210 people out of the entire community,” Wessels told the Daily News in January, when SCE announced an earlier milestone of $117 million in offers. “That’s a drop in the bucket. That sounds like a failure to me, not something to be celebrated.”
The survivors network has characterized the program’s offers as “pennies on the dollar” for damages caused by the fire. The group has called on SCE to pay displaced households $200,000 in rent relief without requiring them to forgo litigation — a request the utility has declined.
Joy Chen, executive director of the network, told CalMatters in January: “It’s Edison’s responsibility to solve all of this. It’s their fire.”
Some plaintiffs’ attorneys have argued that the program may result in lower payouts than claimants could receive through litigation and have accused SCE of stalling court settlement talks while promoting its own program.
SCE said the program delivers settlement offers within 90 days of a substantially complete claim submission. The utility said submitting a claim takes about 100 minutes on average and that payments are made within five days after all conditions in the settlement agreement have been satisfied.
Pizarro has said the program offers compensation “commensurate” with settlements from previous wildfires.
“We know that many in the community are weighing whether this program is right for them,” Pizarro said in a January news release. “Our hope is that people will take a look at the program, fill out a claim and see if it is the right decision for them.” The program is voluntary, and claimants are not required to accept an offer, SCE said.
SCE has acknowledged that evidence points to a long-dormant electrical tower that became reenergized and may have sparked the blaze. The official cause remains under investigation by the state.
The U.S. Department of Justice sued Edison in September 2025, alleging the utility’s negligence caused the fire.
In January 2026, SCE filed cross-complaints against a dozen public agencies, including Los Angeles County and six water agencies serving the Altadena area, alleging they should share liability for the fire’s spread.
The program accepts claims through November 30, 2026. Claims can be submitted online at the Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program webpage. One-on-one assistance is available in multiple languages by calling 888-912-8528, and in-person appointments are available, according to SCE.
The first set of Eaton Fire lawsuits is scheduled to go to trial in January 2027 — less than two months after the program’s claims deadline closes.
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