California Governor Newsom signed a bill into law that allows Edison electric company to start charging customers for any Eaton fire costs exceeding the state's $21-billion wildfire fund. The bailout was quietly tucked into to the 231-page bill just before the deadline. Damages for the Eaton fire have been estimated to be as high as $45 billion.

Videos captured the January 7, 2025 inferno igniting under a century-old transmission line that Edison had not used for 50 years. The wildfire swept through Altadena, destroying 9,400 homes and other structures and killing at least 19 people. Edison now faces hundreds of lawsuits filed by victims who claim Edison failed to safely maintain its equipment and left in place the unused transmission line knowing that it posed a fire risk. Even though the utilities have raised electric rates to charge customers for billions of dollars of fire prevention work, their electrical equipment continues to spark blazes.

Edison is a generous donor to Gavin Newsom and recently gave $190,000 to the state Democratic Party, which is helping Newsom campaign for Proposition 50, which would redraw congressional districts.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 254 quietly expanding the state's $21 billion Wildfire Fund to help major utility companies from massive fire-related liabilities – all while shifting the costs back onto California taxpayers and ratepayers. The legislation, which took effect immediately as an "urgency statute," creates a new "Wildfire Fund Continuation Account" worth up to $9 billion in bonds.

This allows investor-owned utilities like Southern California Edison (SCE), Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) to tap into public money for damages, fines, and settlements tied to wildfires they ignite. This comes as energy bills skyrocket and Newsom aggressively pushes green mandates. At the center of the issue is the Eaton Fire. A fire sparked beneath an SCE transmission line in Altadena.