Research Update: Edison International And Subsidiary Outlooks Revised To Negative On California Wildfire Risk, Ratings Affirmed

The California State Legislature's 2018 legislative session ends on Aug. 31, 2018. While there is some tangible evidence that progress is being made on passing a bill that will limit utilities' exposure to wildfire risks, it is possible that the bill will not be passed during this session, which would force California's electric utilities to effectively remain the insurer of last resort for devastating wildfires to the extent that the utilities' equipment is involved. Without a concrete near-term improvement to the California regulatory compact, the credit quality of all of the state's electric utilities and electric utility holding companies, including Edison International (Edison) and Southern California Edison Co. (SCE), would be weakened. We are affirming the ratings on Edison and

...+ The California State Legislature's 2018 legislative session ends on Aug. 31, 2018. While there is some tangible evidence that progress is being made on passing a bill that will limit utilities' exposure to wildfire risks, it is possible that the bill will not be passed during this session, which would force California's electric utilities to effectively remain the insurer of last resort for devastating wildfires to the extent that the utilities' equipment is involved. + Without a concrete near-term improvement to the California regulatory compact, the credit quality of all of the state's electric utilities and electric utility holding companies, including Edison International (Edison) and Southern California Edison Co. (SCE), would be weakened. + We are affirming the ratings on Edison and SCE. At the same time, we are revising their outlooks to negative from stable. + The negative outlooks reflect a one in three possibility that California will not pass a bill in the next two months that...

Research Update