Company: SCE-PL
Filing Date: 2025-02-27
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000827052-25-000022
Chunk: 45

Company: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON Co
Filing Date: 2025-02-27
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 7
Chunk 45
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 For a discussion of contingencies, guarantees, and indemnities, see "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 12. Commitments and Contingencies."

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Table of Contents

Application to Wildfires

As discussed in "Management Overview," wildfires in SCE's service area have caused loss of life, substantial damage to both residential and business properties, and service outages for SCE customers.

The extent of legal liability for wildfire-related damages in actions against utilities depends on a number of factors, including whether the utility substantially caused or contributed to the damages and whether parties seeking recovery of damages will be required to show negligence in addition to causation. Final determinations of legal liability for wildfire events, including determinations of whether SCE was negligent, would only be made during lengthy and complex litigation processes and settlements may be reached before determinations of legal liability are ever made.

Edison International and SCE have incurred material losses in connection with several wildfires. Estimated losses for wildfire litigation are based on a number of assumptions and are subject to change as additional information becomes available. Actual losses incurred may be higher or lower than estimated based on several factors, including the uncertainty in estimating damages that have been or may be alleged. For instance, SCE will receive additional information with respect to damages claimed as the claims mediation and trial processes progress. Other factors that can cause actual losses incurred to be higher or lower than estimated include the ability to reach settlements and the outcomes of settlements reached through the ongoing claims mediation and trial processes, uncertainties related to the sufficiency of insurance held by plaintiffs, uncertainties related to the litigation processes, including whether plaintiffs will ultimately pursue claims, uncertainty as to the legal and factual determinations to be made during litigation, including uncertainty as to the contributing causes of certain wildfires, and the uncertainty as to how these factors impact future settlements. 

For more information related to the loss contingencies of the wildfires, see "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 12. Commitments and Contingencies—Contingencies—Southern California Wildfires and Mudslides."

Rate Regulated Enterprises

Nature of Estimate Required. SCE follows the accounting principles for rate-regulated enterprises which are required for entities whose rates are set by regulators at levels intended to recover the estimated costs of providing service, plus a return on net investment, or rate base. Regulators may also impose penalties or grant incentives. Due to timing and other differences in the collection of revenue, these accounting principles allow a cost that would otherwise be charged as an expense by an unregulated entity to be capitalized as a regulatory asset