A recent Daily Journal article examines criticism of Southern California Edison’s plan to shift power line safety costs to Altadena homeowners affected by the Eaton Fire. Kabateck LLP attorney Matt French was among those featured in the coverage.
In the article, French expressed concern about Edison’s attempts to pass undergrounding costs onto fire victims while funding from FEMA and other sources remains uncertain. “It’s nice if they ask for the money from other sources, but whether or not they get it is not guaranteed,” French told the Daily Journal.
French, who joined Kabateck’s wildfire litigation practice in July and is now “completely devoted” to representing Eaton fire victims, highlighted the additional burden these costs place on homeowners who are already rebuilding after losing their homes.
The article discusses Edison’s $860-925 million plan to bury more than 130 miles of electrical distribution circuits in high fire risk areas, with individual homeowner connection costs potentially ranging from $8,000 to $10,000.
French emphasized that victims should prepare for these potential costs while navigating the uncertainty of whether their neighborhoods will be included in the undergrounding project, calling for Edison to make “a stronger good faith effort to secure this funding before they have discussions of passing it on to homeowners or ratepayers.”
Read the full Daily Journal article here (subscription required).