Residents of communities directly impacted by the Eaton Fire have begun receiving financial compensation from Southern California Edison’s, the utility announced Tuesday.
The Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program launched on Oct. 29. So far, residents have submitted more than 1,500 claims, with offers extended and accepted and additional payments made by year-end, company officials said.
“We are grateful to community partners — neighbors, local organizations and first responders — for their tireless efforts to support recovery,” Pedro Pizarro, president and CEO of Edison International, SCE’s parent company, said in a statement. “We committed to helping quickly, too, delivering offers within 90 days and payments within 30 days. Today, we’re making good on that promise in a fraction of the time, providing much-needed payments when the community needs it most.”
The utility provided program metrics — as of Dec. 15 claims totaled 1,551 filed by 3,293 claimants and household members involved. SCE has extended 27 offers and made one payment. The three most common loss types are nonburn damage at 43% of claims, total loss at 40% and 5% for partial loss claims. Plaintiffs’ attorneys have submitted 20% of claims.
According to Edison, the average amount of time to complete the program’s claim form is 90 minutes. Participation in the program is voluntary, and claims can be submitted until Nov. 30, 2026.
The compensation initiative “is designed to provide fair resolutions and fast payments to eligible individuals and businesses,” according to the company, which remains focused on processing claims within 90 days “of being substantially complete,” providing resources for the public online, by phone and in person and “delivering fair resolutions and fast payments within 30 days, after all conditions have been satisfied.”
Before starting a claim, review these helpful tools to answer questions you may have about the form or process.
Full details about the program’s first compensation payment were not available.
“It was a smoke and ash claim,” SCE spokesman David Eisenhauer said in an email, adding that it was not appropriate to share specific amounts.
Financial support for the compensation program is reimbursement from the state’s $21 billion Wildfire Fund, and the utility can raise electric rates to cover costs that exceed $21 billion.
The first $1 billion of claims is covered by SCE’s customer-funded insurance. The utility would then seek reimbursement from the state and “continues to have confidence in the wildfire fund and its $22B of claim-paying capacity,” Eisenhauer said.
Information on the program and filing a claim is on SCE’s website.
Southern California Edison is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a population of about 15 million people via 5 million customer accounts in Central and Southern California.
Several lawsuits allege SCE equipment sparked the Eaton Fire in Altadena and nearby areas Jan. 7 amid extremely fast winds. The blaze killed 19 people and destroyed or damaged more than 10,000 structures.
Updated Dec. 19, 2025, 11:04 a.m.