Edison International

Good afternoon and welcome to the Edison International Second Quarter 2025 Financial Teleconference. My name is Denise and I will be your operator today. When we get to the question and answer session, if you have a question, press star 1 on your phone. Today's call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Sam Romrage, Vice President of Investor Relations. Mr. Romrage, you may begin your conference.

Thank you Denise and welcome everyone. Our speakers today are President and Chief Executive Officer Pedro Pizarro and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Maria Riccardi. Also on the call are other members of the management team. Materials supporting today's call are available at .edisoninvestor.com. These include a Form 10Q, prepared remarks from Pedro and Maria, and the teleconference presentation. Tomorrow we will distribute a regular business update presentation. During this call we will make forward looking statements about the outlook for Edison International and its subsidiaries. Actual results could differ materially from current expectations. Important factors that could cause different results are set forth in our SEC filings. Please read these carefully. The presentation includes certain outlook assumptions as well as reconciliation of non-GAAP pressures to the nearest GAAP measure. During the question and answer session, please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. I will now turn the call over to Pedro.

Thanks a lot Sam and good afternoon everyone. Today I will address three key topics for our investors. An update on the Ethan Fire. Our confidence that California's legislature will support healthy investor-owned utilities. And an update on regulatory decisions and future actions that position SCE well to deliver on its commitments for customers and other stakeholders. Let me start with a brief comment on earnings. Today Edison International reported second quarter core earnings per share of 97 cents compared to $1.23 a year ago. However as I have mentioned before, this -over-year comparison is not particularly meaningful because SCE has not received a final decision in its 2025 general rate case. Nonetheless we remain confident in our ability to meet our 2025 EPS guidance and deliver a 5 to 7 percent core EPS CAGR through 2028. I will touch on the GRC proposed decision in a few minutes and Maria will discuss her financial performance in her remarks. On the Ethan Fire. The investigations by SCE and the LA County Fire Department remain ongoing. There are no additional disclosures on the ignition or estimated cost at this point. To recap, SCE is not aware of evidence pointing to another possible source of ignition. Absent additional evidence we believe that SCE equipment could have been associated with the ignition. In addition, numerous lawsuits have already been brought against SCE. If it is determined that SCE's transmission equipment was associated with the ignition of the Ethan Fire, based on the information we have reviewed thus far, we remain confident that SCE would make a good faith showing that its conduct with respect to its transmission facilities in the Ethan Canyon area was consistent with actions of a reasonable utility. As we know from prior wildfire events, engaging with and helping the community is critical. That's why we announced last week the Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program which SCE will launch this fall. The program will provide direct payments to eligible individuals and businesses. Resolving claims quickly allows the community to focus on recovery and minimizes the overall cost by mitigating the impacts of interest expense and inflation. This will also help use the wildfire fund efficiently and have more of the cash support impacted community members instead of being spent on higher legal costs. On the legislative front, we are encouraged by the continuing discussions with the governor's office and legislators to enhance California's industry-leading AB 1054 regulatory framework. Given the economy-wide consequences of inaction, we believe policymakers will strengthen California's wildfire framework during the current legislative session. The issue of wildfires is not just a utility regulation issue. The full solution must include broader actions across multiple sectors and could be addressed during next year's legislative session. Separately, a number of affordability bills are being discussed. Our track record on cost management, which I will discuss in a few minutes, shows our commitment to affordability. There are good steps the legislature can consider to improve affordability, like right-sizing public purpose programs and NEM and streamlining siting and permitting. However, provisions like securitizing capital may be well-intentioned but in fact would actually raise customer costs by deteriorating credit quality. We will continue to engage with legislators to help them make decisions that are grounded in the facts. Moving to the regulatory front, SCE continues to build on its progress across multiple proceedings, further de-risking our financial outlook. Maria will expand on several of those proceedings in her remarks, but let me touch on the proposed decision in SCE's 2025 GRC issued by the administrative law judge on Monday. Page 3 provides a summary. The PD overall generally aligns with our range case rate-based forecast. We share the ALJ's view that critical investments are needed to maintain a safe, reliable, and increasingly clean electric grid. On the other hand, key areas of the PD require improvement, so SCE will seek revisions. The PD would authorize base revenue of $9.8 billion or 93% of SCE's requested revenue requirement. It also supports significant capital investments in wildfire mitigation, grid modernization, and infrastructure replacement, while incorporating affordability considerations for customers. The reductions from SCE's requests primarily relate to scope, pacing, or cost, not to the underlying need or effectiveness of the programs. Most notably, the PD finds that covered conductor has been a highly effective wildfire mitigation strategy and that no party recommended a reduction to SCE's request. It also notes that no party disputed that targeted undergrounding is an effective tool for SCE, although it would authorize fewer miles than SCE proposed. The PD affirms the reasonableness of the utility's baseload growth forecast and recognizes the importance of SCE's planning methodology, which integrates statewide forecasts with local system knowledge. This supports our long-term strategy to ensure the grid is ready for California's electrified future. However, there are some areas where the PD is not fully aligned with customer needs and will be part of the utility's opening comments. Maria will say more in her remarks. The January wildfires underscore the importance of mitigation plans and the need for continuous and evolving tools to maintain infrastructure resiliency. SCE submitted its 2026-2028 wildfire mitigation plan in May, outlining a comprehensive strategy to address both immediate and long-term wildfire risks with new and innovative solutions. The plan reflects the utility's commitment to public safety, risk reduction, and affordability and builds on foundational mitigations such as covered conductor, targeted undergrounding, and enhanced vegetation management. Over the 2026-2028 period, SCE anticipates investing $6.2 billion. The plan also supports continued use of aerial firefighting assets, including the world's largest heli tankers with nighttime capabilities, and aims to inspect approximately 1 million trees annually. Public safety power shutoffs remain a critical tool in wildfire prevention. This year's PSPS updates include revised criteria and wind speed thresholds, expanded circuit coverage, and broader boundaries around high-fire risk areas. As always, SCE remains focused on customer support and outreach to enhance safety and reduce the impact of PSPS events. Additional details can be found on page 4. As you will recall, a year ago we shared our projection that even with 100% of SCE's GRC The utility expects its system average rate to grow on average at an inflation-like level for 2028. Based on where things stand today, that is still the expectation, which is further enabled by SCE's enduring focus on operational excellence and efficiently managing costs for customers. SCE has a more than 15-year track record with the lowest system average rate among California's industry-owned utilities, thanks to successfully executing on its operational excellence initiatives and taking proactive measures to address customer affordability. Technology is a major driver of better affordability, safety, reliability, and resiliency. For example, last month, EEI once again selected EIX and SCE as the winner of their prestigious Edison Award, recognizing distinguished leadership, innovation, and contribution to the advancement of the electric industry for the benefit of all. Our winning project, SCE's Advanced Waveform Anomaly Recognition Engine, or AWARE for short, uses real-time grid sensor data, AI, and machine learning to proactively predict potential system issues and pinpoint where failures take place within SCE's service territory. Customers benefit from higher safety and reliability, faster restoration times, and higher affordability through optimized crew time. I am proud of our team for their steadfast commitment to operational excellence and for creating this AI-driven solution to help make the grid safer and more resilient for our communities. I will conclude my remarks by reiterating the key messages. First, SCE is continuing with its investigation on the origin and cost of the Ethan Fire, and there are no new disclosures about the ignition or cost estimate at this time. When we have additional relevant information, we will share it with you and, importantly, will continue our transparency with our community. Second, we are confident that legislative action will ultimately enhance California's AB 1054 regulatory framework. Third, SCE is well positioned from a regulatory standpoint to deliver for customers and investors. With that, I'll turn it over to Maria for her financial report.

Thanks, Pedro, and good afternoon. In my comments today, I will cover second quarter 2025 results, provide additional insight into key regulatory proceedings, and update you on other financial topics. Starting with the second quarter, EIX reported core EPS of 97 cents compared to $1.23 last year. Page 5 provides the -over-year quarterly variance analysis. As Pedro mentioned, the -over-year comparison is not particularly meaningful because SCE has not received a final decision in its 2025 GRC. SCE continues to book revenues at 2024 authorized levels adjusted for the change in ROE and will record a true-up when it receives a final decision. SCE's core EPS variance was primarily driven by higher O&M expense and the net impact of regulatory decisions received in each period. EIX parent and others' variance was primarily driven by higher interest expense. I'd like to expand on Pedro's comments on the wildfire recovery compensation program for the Eaton fire. As SCE resolves claims, we would not expect to see actual or estimated costs run through the income statement aside from the small shareholder contribution associated with self-insurance. The costs would be offset by SCE's customer-funded self-insurance for the first $1 billion and then by receivables or regulatory assets associated with the wildfire fund and regulation put in place by AB 1054. An efficient reimbursement process from the wildfire fund also means SCE would not have to issue long-term debt to fund payments. On SCE's 2025 general rate case, if adopted, the PD would result in base rate revenue requirements of $9.8 billion in 2025, $10.2 billion in 2026, $10.6 billion in 2027, and $11 billion in 2028. Translating the rate-based numbers shown in the proposed decision into total company rate base and holding all else constant, the results would be generally in line with our current range case. Following a final decision, we will incorporate all aspects of the GRC into our long-term plans and refresh our projections. In SCE's opening comments, it will outline areas where it believes revisions are warranted to deliver better outcomes for customers and ensure the decision aligns with the evidentiary record, applicable law, and established regulatory principles. Let me expand on a couple of areas. On wildfire mitigation, the decision would authorize more than 1,800 miles of grid hardening consistent with SCE's total hardening request. However, it shifts about 400 miles from targeted undergrounding to the covered conductor program. While the PD reflects a significant increase to the historical level of targeted undergrounding, it falls short of SCE's well-supported request. This reduction limits SCE's ability to appropriately mitigate the wildfire risk in the most vulnerable areas. On infrastructure replacement, the PD would approve the majority of the proposed programs, but scales back the scope. The decision recognizes the importance of resuming infrastructure replacement after several years of wildfire-focused spending, but we believe the gradual ramp-up does not fully reflect the urgency of today's reliability and electrification needs. As for the next steps, oral argument is scheduled for August 11th, and SCE will file its opening comments on August 18th, and reply comments are due August 25th. The earliest the Commission can vote on the proposed decision is at its August 28th voting meeting. During oral argument and in comments, SCE will advocate for adjustments that better align with the state's climate objectives and the safety and resiliency needs of the communities we serve. As we've said before, we understand the Commission's desire to balance safety, reliability, and affordability, and we will continue to work collaboratively to ensure the utilities' programs deliver value to customers. Continuing on to the regulatory front, SCE has advanced other regulatory proceedings and outcomes, ultimately de-risking our financial outlook. I will highlight a few updates. First, the CPUC issued final decisions in SCE's WMCE and WMVM proceedings, providing certainty on the timing of cost recovery and contribution to our 2025 earnings guidance. On the WMCE settlement agreement, the CPUC authorized recovery of more than $300 million of O&M and $700 million of capital for historical wildfire mitigation and restoration. In SCE's 2022 WMVM proceeding, the CPUC authorized the recovery of about $290 million of O&M and $99 million of capital, while disallowing about $65 million of O&M. I'll note that SCE has filed an application for rehearing to address certain legal and factual errors that resulted in incorrect disallowances of costs incurred to make SCE's system and communities safer and more resilient to wildfire threats. Second, as another step toward recovering historical costs, in April, SCE filed its application for authority to issue securitized bonds to finance the recovery of about $1.6 billion related to the TKM proceeding. This securitization allows for the issuance of recovery bonds with the highest possible credit rating, which reduces financing costs for SCE's customers. The ALJ recently issued a proposed decision, which would approve the financing order, and the schedule calls for the final decision in August. Third, on the Woolsey cost recovery application, SCE recently filed its rebuttal testimony. The schedule includes a motion for consideration of a settlement agreement or joint statement of stipulations of issues due on August 12. As always, SCE is open to settlement discussions if a fair and reasonable outcome can be achieved, benefiting customers and shareholders. Lastly, the 2026 cost of capital proceeding continues to progress, with interveners submitting their testimony yesterday evening. During the quarter, the ALJ also issued a scoping memo with a schedule that calls for a proposed decision in November. Turning to pages 6 and 7, SCE's capital expenditure and rate-based forecasts remain unchanged while we await a final GRC decision. The utility continues to make investments in safety, reliability, and resiliency. The rate case request supports investments that are essential to meet customer needs both today and through the end of 2028. This includes critical work in infrastructure replacement and wildfire mitigation, as well as investments to meet the growing demand in our service area. As we have highlighted before, we continue to see substantial additional capital needs beyond the GRC that are incremental to the plan. Moving on to our EPS guidance, outlined on pages 8 and 9, we are confident in reaffirming the 2025 range of $5.94 to $6.34 and our long-term EPS growth expectations of 5 to 7% from 2025 to 2028. As a reminder, we will refresh our financial guidance six weeks after SCE receives a final decision in its 2025 GRC. This will include our capital and rate-based projections, 2025 core EPS range, long-term core EPS growth, and financing plan. That concludes my remarks and back to you, Sam.

Denise, can you please open the call for questions? As a reminder, we request you to limit yourself to one question and one follow-up so everyone in line has the opportunity to ask questions.

Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your phone. And our first question comes from Nicholas Campanella with Barclays. Your line is open.

Hey, good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for taking my questions.

Hi, Nicholas.

Hi. Hey, I know that AB 1054, a lot in flux right now, legislature is on recess, but just we had news last night about the proposed $18 billion fix, and I just wanted to get your view on, you know, if half of this is coming from utilities, you know, how would you kind of define what is or what is not an acceptable structure and whether you're open to shareholder debt or equity contributions up front or through a certain period in order to kind of participate in that solution? Thank you.

Thanks, Nicholas. A very fair question. Look, I'll start by saying that we saw the Article 2. There's a lot of work going on between the governor's office and, you know, legislative leaders. You know, I mentioned we've been in discussions, but still long ways, right, through the summer recess and into, you know, hopefully seeing legislation this session. So at the end of the day, you know, we will be looking at the balance of everything that is in a package. And the devil's always in the details. So, you know, really impossible to comment right now on this one element or that one element. I will say, and I think you've heard me say before that from a policy or, you know, principles perspective, we do believe that the investor-owned utility framework makes a lot of sense. And that calls for shareholders making capital investments, you know, having the opportunity to earn an authorized rate of return and having full recovery of all prudently incurred costs. So in that context, AB 1054 itself was a departure from that and having shareholders do an upfront contribution, you know, to help seed the fund. And so we've been vocal that, you know, moving forward an expansion of AB 1054 that was purely being done along investor-owned utility rate-making principles would not have a shareholder contribution. That said, it's a complex environment. It's a lot going on. And again, you know, we will need to see the balance of an ultimate package. You know, we don't foresee and frankly don't see a need for having upfront contributions like there were in AB 1054 previously. You know, there is cash in the fund and you probably saw the comments by the fund administrator, the California Earthquake Authority, that the current capacity of the fund, they estimate something like $22 billion, even taking into account the amounts that have been called for for the Dixie and Kincade fires. And as we know, unfortunately, the process of going through claims can take quite a long time. And so, you know, we don't anticipate that there would be a very rapid depletion of the fund. We don't know how much Ethan would deplete it if Ethan ends up being SEA's fire. But whatever that amount is, it will take multiple years. And so that would suggest that there isn't a need for an upfront piece. Beyond that, though, you know, we'll have to take a look at what's the package and then make a determination as to whether that package is in the interest of both our customers and importantly our shareholders.

Okay. Okay. No, that's very helpful. I appreciate it. There's a lot of volatility in the background, too. So I guess just you kind of mentioned that once you have greater visibility into the cause of the EIN or even the damages and liabilities, you would disclose those promptly. You know, should we be expecting, you know, that to be more kind of one-off as you know you're going to communicate to the market? Or do we have to kind of wait for earnings calls and 10 cues to get, you know, your best assessment of that liability? Thanks.

Yeah, Nicholas, great question. And, you know, I guess the way I would answer that would be our normal process, right, is to try and provide information or provide information during the quarterly earnings calls. That is certainly the time period when we take a look at potential reserves, et cetera. You've seen that experience with the 17 and 18 fires. However, if we, you know, had a piece of information that we thought was sufficiently material not only for investors but also for the community, I could certainly foresee a case where we might do something off-cycle.

So

long-winded way of answering it depends, right? And we'll make sure that we're doing ultimately the right thing in terms of disclosure and transparency.

Okay, that's very fair. Thanks for taking the time. Thank you.

Thanks, Nicholas.

Thank you. The next question is from Richard Sunderland with JP Morgan. Your line is open.

Hey, good afternoon. Thanks for the time. Turning to the GRC PD, could you provide finer detail on this versus the range case in your forecast? I guess should we assume that if the PD stands, that range case would essentially become your outlook or are there opportunities to bring capital back in beyond what you already flag as upside potential on the right-hand side of that slide?

Hey, Rich. Thanks for the question. So we are going to file comments on the PD just as a reminder from the comments that Pager and I have already made because we do think there are some areas there that warrant some revision. We have given you a range case before. The PD is aligned with our range case outcome. But as you know from other information that we share, there are other opportunities above and beyond what we've already included in our forecast. So as we work through and get the results of the final decision, we'll be working through all of those other elements as well and we'll be sharing those with you after the final decision is issued.

Okay, understood. Just to be clear on that, the six-week post-final decision update could also offer a view on those other opportunities?

Yep.

Got it. Got it. Super helpful. And then turning to Woolsey, just following rebuttal here, how are you feeling about the ability to reach a settlement and that over the next few weeks?

Well, I think you know that we are always open to settlement discussions as long as they're fair and reasonable discussions. We have filed our rebuttal testimony. We think we put a good showing in for that as well. I think the commentary from the testimony from interveners was really focused on our various programs and how we executed on those. And we think we have demonstrated both in our original testimony as well as in our rebuttal that we have acted as a prudent operator.

Great. Thank you for the time today.

Thank you, Rich.

Thank you. The next question comes from Carly Davenport with Goldman Sachs. Your line is open.

Hey, good afternoon. Thanks so much for taking the questions. I wanted to just ask on some of the affordability legislation that's been proposed in California, specifically on the provisions around securitization. Just to get your thoughts on perhaps other alternatives that you think could still support affordability in a more constructive way. And then if you've done any work to kind of quantify the potential impacts, if the securitization provisions were passed as written, I would be curious if there's anything to share there as well. Thank you.

Let me start on this one and Maria may have additional comments. I alluded to in high level in my remarks to some of the other alternatives out there to try and work on affordability for customers. First and foremost, Carly, it really starts with the utility being an excellent operator. And so that's why I spend time on my comments to make sure that investors understand the hard work that this company has taken on over multiple years to continue to look at opportunities to increase O&M efficiency as well as capital efficiency. We talk about making sure that we are capturing customer value across all colors of money. And so it's work that continues and we're excited about the opportunities to use technology and continue to process improvement to attack that. And that's frankly something that our Sacramento team and I personally have spent time making sure we share with policymakers so that they understand that starting point. Secondly, there's a number of areas like public purpose programs. Right. You've heard not just us, but you've heard other thought leaders across the industry, including academics talk about how there are programs like the subsidies that support low income customers that today are carried in on the electric bill. But from a policy perspective would make more sense being born on the taxpayer bill. So that's another kind of broad category. Yet another one is net energy meter. Right. So we're looking at provisions around that and you've seen some bill activity in Sacramento trying to address that. So finally, and maybe this leads to the back part of your question. It's important that policymakers, legislators understand how the numbers end up working. Right. Particularly when you look at something like security station, as I as I mentioned in my remarks a few minutes ago, they'll say it a little differently. There is no free money here. There's no free lunch. And from a customer perspective, I appreciate and in fact, I've had very candid discussions with with legislators around this. I appreciate they're looking to address affordability by reducing the amount of the bill that's going towards shareholder earnings. And what we are making sure that that we're conveying is that in doing that, you're altering the overall balance of the regulatory framework. As for example, the rating agencies look at this, they are going to see that that leads a utility that has less credit quality. And that translates into cost of debt, which that higher cost of debt gets passed to the customer. We try to come up with some estimates. They're not quite ready for prime time, but we are pretty confident that if you see a dollar of foregone earnings and that you might think that that's a dollar of customer savings, that will actually lead to more than a dollar of added customer cost over the long run. And so we've been very clear about that. Final point that I make is that you often hear in Sacramento concerned about utility profits in general. And so when we post the business update tomorrow or the next couple of days, you will see a chart there from new analysis that our team has done that is looking at a comparison of SCE's average bill for an average residential customer and comparing it to an average municipal power bill in our territory. And we have a lot of respect for our peers in public power. So it's not about better or worse, but it's looking at what are the differences here. And just using speaking qualitatively, you'll see numbers when the chart posts in the business update. You'll see that yes, SCE's average bill or bill for the average residential customer is higher than that for public power. But the reason it's higher is primarily around elements that are not in municipal powers bill. For example, taxes that they don't pay, but ultimately somebody in society has to pay. Public purpose programs, subsidies that we're required to carry in our bill that they are not. Wildfire mitigation expenses that I would think any utility in our area, whether public or industrial owned, will have to ultimately be bearing in the long term. When you then take a look at the pieces that are truly comparable, which is most of the bill, the operational costs for T&D and generation and purchase power with financing costs fully baked in there. So those utility profits are part of that analysis. You'll see that when we compare to our to our good friends at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the SCE bill, that portion of the bill, just the majority of the bill, is actually a few dollars cheaper every month than it is for our colleagues at L.A. And that in spite of the fact that we have a system that should be more costly to run because we serve something like thirty one hundred customers per square mile. Whereas I think L.A. has around one hundred and five customers per square mile. And again, that is with profits embedded in that analysis. So I think it just goes to show that the investor on utility model is one that has stimulated innovation, stimulated efficiency by providing, frankly, a capital market signal to our team. So I know that was a lot to fill out you, but that's a way another way in which we're trying to quantify what's really what matters in the end, just the impact on total bills. Maria, I know I said a lot there, but anything else you would add or correct?

Yeah, I think Carly had one other question. And I think in terms of how do you think about the math, obviously, the utility is all about rate based math. You can look at it from that perspective. We continue to see a tremendous amount of customer need and opportunity to support that need that is supportive also of our long term growth trajectory. I think those were the two parts of your question.

Thank you. The next question comes from Angie Storzinski with Seaport. Your line is open.

Hi, Angie. Thank you. How are you? So just, I mean, we're waiting for a number of regulatory decisions for you and your California peers. And I'm just looking at especially at the cost of capital filing, you know, given the backdrop, you know, a very challenging backdrop for electric utility in your state. It doesn't seem like there is that much support in giving you a higher ROE in order to recognize the risk. All of the fixes that we're hearing about from the legislature seem temporary to me at least patches, right, with equity contributions from utilities. So, again, like if you take a step back, you know, one could argue, you know, what's the incentive really to as an investor to support California utilities given the headaches that I just mentioned and the fact that you're not really being remunerated for the utility. For the higher risk that you are accepting again, being blunt here.

I appreciate it. And Angie, listen, I'll leave a short answer to this one. California has ultimately generally gotten it right. And so right now we're seeing proposals in Sacramento. We haven't seen a final bill. You know, we've seen, I think, supportive action at the PUC at the end of the day after you go through a lot of process, you know, not a guarantee that they'll get it right again, you know, in this decision or that decision. But overall, we have a state that is committed to serving customers committed to the load growth that's coming across the state from electrification and, you know, data centers, etc. And it's committed to the clean energy transition for which, you know, they need our infrastructure. So I would, you know, maybe what I qualify your thesis, Angie, by saying, yes, it feels bumpy right now, but it's felt bumpy before. And ultimately, we've seen policymakers do the right thing.

One thing, Angie, you said, you know, fixes seem temporary. And I think maybe just to follow up on something that Pedro said in his prepared remarks. I think when you think about the things that are challenging California right now, affordability, yes, but also enhancing, you know, wildfire protections, etc. I think there are things that are, you know, as Pedro mentioned, will happen this year, this session, that really go to the foundation of stabilizing the IOU framework. And from that stable, more stable foundation can move on and really address what is a societal issue, right? So there will be more work to come in the future around homeowners insurance, around building codes and standards, around hopefully liability reform. So all of those things, you're right, they're not all going to happen overnight. But we're starting from the foundation of build on the framework of AB 1054, stabilize and enhance that, shore up people's confidence in that approach. And then we can move on and take a longer term view of other things that need to happen.

Understood. Okay. And then, and again, I appreciate that, you know, we have few details about the story that broke last night. But, you know, the contribution, the IOU's contribution to the fund, I mean, is it fair to assume that SCE would have a disproportionately large contribution versus other utilities, just like we saw what happened with PG&E at the first time around with this Wildfire Fund?

Yeah, Angie, it would be really tough to comment on that right now. Obviously, you know, we're advocating to make sure there's a fair allocation across, you know, all the customers involved and the shareholders involved across the utilities. But, you know, as I said earlier, we're going to look at not just this term or that term. We're going to look at all the terms together when they come together into a package and then make a decision as to whether it's, you know, a supportive piece of legislation for our customers and for our shareholders. And again, I'll reinforce what Maria just said here. We said it many times before. This is a big, big societal issue. So right now, I'm grateful that there's a lot of focus on getting the first step around the utility piece done in this legislative session. But equally important will be that work that Maria was mentioning for next year's session. Because, you know, the state really needs to work on protecting homes more and reducing fire spread and continuing the great work you've done on fire suppression and redoubling that and fixing the insurance market, all these other things that add up to the wildfire issue really. So, I'm grateful for that. And I'm grateful for the opportunity to speak with large for California.

Good. Thank you.

Thanks, Angie.

Thank you. The next question comes from Greg oral with UPS. I'm sorry, UBS. Your line is now open.

Greg, you're almost going to deliver packages there.

Yes. Yes. Thank you. I had two questions, possibly regarding the Eaton investigation. Can you remind us of kind of where that that stands and who's involved in running that and, you know, when you expect an outcome? And then where do you stand on the idea of issuing equity to fund contributions to the, you know, the $18 billion wildfire replenishment?

Okay,

I'll

take the first one. Maria can

take the second one. On the Eaton investigation, I think I shared this in my comments already, but let me just, you know, recap here. Really think about it as two separate investigations. There's the official investigation that has the involvement of LA County fire being led by them and the work with Cal Fire and others. So that's it's track. You know, we don't we we provide support to that when they ask us for, you know, details, et cetera. But that is an independent investigation. Separately, you have Edison's own investigation, which we are doing in close engagement with a number of stakeholders, including attorneys for plaintiffs, as well as, you know, communities, local elements, et cetera. And the reason for that engagement is that that way that there is there is clarity about how we're proceeding. There are, you know, all the questions get addressed up front in terms of how should you touch this piece of equipment or how should you remove that bracket from that tower or what have you. That does mean that it adds time because every time that you're going to do a piece of work, there's collaboration involved in developing protocols that everybody will be, you know, in agreement with. So that's why that is taking a while. We have shared in terms of timing, Rick, that while we can't predict or forecast what the ultimate time will be for either of the investigations, typically in these complex fire cases, we have seen the official investigations take 12 to 18 months from the start of the fire. And then we don't have an estimate on how long ours will take, particularly since then there's this collaborative process that just adds time to every step.

So, Greg, I'll address your second question. So I think first, you know, again, we want to, as Pedro said before, understand the entire package that is potentially in any piece of legislation that comes along. And frankly, from that perspective, something that had a large upfront payment would actually drive our cost of capital higher and would ultimately not benefit customers. And we are very, very aware and sensitive to where our share price is changing and what that valuation discount is. That's one piece of it, top of mind for us. The second piece of it is just from an efficiency perspective, the fund doesn't need to be shored up with cash today. Pedro already discussed that previously. If you think about the process that one has to go through in order to get to a place where you're actually accessing the fund, if an event happens, then you have people making claims, you have to go through a claims process. As we know from our own experience on prior events, that takes a long time. So at this point in time, we don't actually see a need, and it would be inefficient for the fund itself to have cash upfront. So those two pieces, how it affects overall our capital structure and our cost of capital and what the ramifications would ultimately be then for customers, as well as the actual needs of the fund, I think brings together the point that it doesn't feel necessary to us right now. But again, we will look at an entire package when it becomes available to us.

Appreciate the answers.

Thank you. The next question comes from Paul Zimbardo with Jeffreys. Your line is open.

Hi, team. Thank you. To follow up a little bit on the prepare marks comment, you stated the PD and about the rate case specifically. The PD general line with the range based rate based forecast is also fair to say it aligns with the EPS growth rate considering the proposed attrition increases in the later years.

Yeah, so it does align with the range based range case forecast and you know rate basis the driver for earnings. We will have to as we get through this final decision, run through all of that and give you more granularity around places that you know where we might see additional capital opportunities, etc. To really inform sort of the more detailed analysis that we'll be providing, but it is aligned with the range case forecast.

Okay, understood. And then just as we think about that role for the reference six weeks afterwards, should we think about the base for that as the I think it's $5.84 2025 X the TKM. Should we think about a different year just any color you can provide on the leap off point would be helpful. Thank you.

Yep, we will be we'll be I'll say replicating what we have there today, which is our 25 to 28 analysis.

Okay, very clear. Thank you, team.

Thanks, Paul.

Thank you. The next question comes from Anthony Crowdale with my home. Your line is open. Hey, I guess

that's better than the package delivery for. But they do have nice brown uniforms. Just I guess if I could ask question, maybe it's in the same vein as Angie and Nick's question earlier. And I understand it's just we're just all going by a Bloomberg story last night is not there's no framework out on the legislation, but it seems that in all the discussion that everyone having the. Maybe the core of all the discussions or what the legislature is working on is a B 1054 and a B 1054 had some really good aspects to it. But also, it's a shared risk model between ratepayers and investors. I'm curious if you know, and maybe it's in line with Angie's question. I'm curious if we're still going to use a B 1054 going forward as an anchor for the solution that that's going to be required. And what I'm concerned over is that it continues to be a shared risk model between customers and investors. And I have one follow up.

Yeah, sure. Thanks, Anthony. And maybe a quick perspective. First, there are elements of a B 1054 that continue to endure and frankly are really important. We've always heard me say that perhaps the most important part of a B 1054 is the strengthening of the prudency provisions. Right. And so glad that that survives the existence of the fund. I said that that's really critical. I think the question though is, you know, as they look at what the framework is for an extension is that following the template of 1054 that appears to be the overall direction. It is risk sharing. You know, you heard my comments earlier in response to I think to Angie's question about how in an ideal world and frankly in the investment utility model, shareholder contribution to that risk really should be coming in when there's been a prudency issue. Right. And there's there's a penalty. Right. Because otherwise, if we're managing wildfire risk and we've been prudent and the worst happens, but it's exacerbated by all sorts of other conditions and it's not because of a lack of prudency. That's a prudently incurred cost that should be, you know, borne by customers. And so there was a departure from that to get to the risk sharing in 1054. What we read along with you in the article last night and we certainly have heard behind the scenes is that there are legislators were looking at continuing some sort of risk sharing. And again, our decision ultimately on whether that's something that we should accept or endorse will really depend on all the devil's in the details and the full package that gets presented to us. That gets you a question. Maria.

Yeah, maybe just one more thing. Anthony, I think goes back to what we were talking about earlier. 80 cents before shoring up the, you know, enhancing the wildfire fund, restoring people's confidence in it. That's a step and I think that's a step that's very important as a foundation and certainly is one we're focused on for this legislative cycle. The state of California has a wildfire issue writ large beyond anything associated with industrial utility equipment. I think as we move forward in time, we will be advocating for and supporting other approaches, other things that the state can look at. We'd be very supportive of any sort of analysis that would be ongoing because it is a lot of factors, right? We have to address building codes and standards and enforcement of those. We have to address the homeowners insurance market. We have to address liability reform potentially. There are a lot of different pieces of this. And by the way, right now, 8010 54 is IOU solution, right? What about all the munis in the state? So there is there are a lot of players and this is a much bigger analysis that will need to be done. What we're focused on now and why we're referring so often to 8010 54 is we need that as a foundation so we can continue the good work with the rest of the stakeholders.

Maria, I'm glad you raised that and I would just add one accent to that. We know the state knows that the underlying wildfire risk, you know, again, broadly for the state, not just utility ignitions, but wildfire risk is only going to increase with climate change. I remind you that the Adapting for Tomorrow white paper that we put out along with the SE's climate adaptation and vulnerability assessment, but four years ago or so, I think it was. You know, that said that by 2050, California is going to be seeing could be as much as three feet of average sea level rise and, you know, seven times more of the kind of hot days that today, you know, are up in the top one percent and more floods and more droughts. And importantly, the risk of 20 percent more wildfire ignitions across all causes. So it's imperative that this state be able to prepare for that risk that we know is coming and it's going to be made worse by climate change. I think the good news here is that I'll tell you, my discussions with the governor, he understands that. Right. My discussions with legislative leaders, they understand that. And, you know, we have one article with one framework and, you know, there's a lot more work to be done before there's a bill that gets voted on and gets signed. But I think it's really important that folks have that underpinning of, you know, where where's the risk headed? What can we done this year? Right. Just a narrower extension or, you know, strengthening of the 1054 piece. But importantly, work hopefully next year on this much broader economy wide issue.

Great. And then one follow up. And again, I, as you just said, there's there's so many different I would say proposals, but different aspects of what they're going to come out with. But how does Eaton, the Eaton event play into it? Meaning, is that only going to be able to access, you know, this current fund? And I understand the current fund as well funded right now. I think the earthquake authorities are fine. Or again, no one knows the cost estimates. But should those cost estimates be greater or the actual liability greater than what the current fund is? Would they would the Eaton fire be able to access whatever comes out of this legislative session at the end of September?

Yeah, and Anthony,

this

will

matter. They depend on the final devil's in the details. I will tell you the sense that I think is fairly broad right now in Sacramento is that the current fund is there for, you know, current fires. And once you have an expansion of the fund, it's really for fires that come after that. So that

that I

think is kind of the general sense. But getting ahead of steeped up here because we don't have an actual piece of legislation in front of us.

And just to reiterate, I think Pedro mentioned this earlier, Anthony, sort of what the status of the fund is. The fund administrator just had a board meeting last week or the week before and indicated that based on their analysis, they have twenty two billion dollars of claims paying capacity available in the fund. And that's after accounting for other fires that are already accessing the fund, if you will. So I think that's a pretty robust number. And that would come after a billion dollars of our own customer funded self insurance to utilize to pay claim. So it's a very robust point at which we are at this at this moment in time. And, you know, we don't at this point know exactly the, you know, the cause of Eaton. The investigation is still ongoing, but we have said that there is a probable loss. But I think that's a very robust number based on the analysis that the fund administrator has done themselves.

Thanks so much for taking my questions. I appreciate it.

Thanks, Anthony.

Thank you. The next question is from Ryan Levine with Citi. Your line is open.

Hi, everybody. What are the advantages of creating the new wildfire recovery compensation program to address the priorities of the community and key stakeholders? And what's the logic of creating this new program as the legislative session enters into a critical phase?

Yeah, I'll answer the second part first. I think totally decoupled from the legislative session. Right.

We

have now told our investors in the community that there is a probable loss. Right. Maria just just reminded folks, you know, if there's a probable loss there, then that means that there will likely be draws on the wildfire fund. And, you know, meanwhile, you have a community that's been deeply impacted and it's just heartbreaking to think about everything that's happened there. And so to the extent that, you know, we have a probable loss and so Edison is dealing with lots of litigation already, etc., then I think it's a good idea to support the community by moving quickly and establishing a program that can help cut through a lot of red tape and cut through the extensive time that is required for traditional litigation and have a place where eligible folks have been impacted can go to get claims satisfied quickly. We said in announcing the program that if they choose to have an attorney, they're certainly welcome to do that. It's also OK to participate in the program without an attorney and taking on those legal costs. We've also said, you know, we're still deciding the program, but we wanted to let the community know that it's in the works. And we did that also so that we can then solicit input, which we will be doing, you know, soliciting input both from elected officials as well as from plaintiff's attorneys and other stakeholders. So lots of good reasons to just do this and do the right thing for the community, given that we're facing a probable loss.

And maybe, Ryan, just to add on to that a little bit, you know, we are going through the process still, as Pager said, in terms of the investigation. The fund does the recovery fund does support the community that you serve as the community that also does business in. And we also know from prior experience that if we can move through this process and handle the claims expeditiously, which is, of course, helpful to the victims, it also mitigates construction cost increases and escalation. It can mitigate legal expenses. So it's also good stewardship of the wildfire fund itself, which would then go to benefit the community even further, as well as the risks that the company might otherwise face. So I think it's got a lot of benefit to it. And we got a lot of commentary even at the CEA's board meeting about it in support of the action.

Lots of parties went through this.

I appreciate that. And just maybe one follow up in terms of the CEA hearing from, I guess, two weeks ago now, there's a lot of talk about subrogation claims and trying to minimize that investor group receiving capital. Does this action, in your view, have an impact on who will ultimately get the proceeds from the fund?

No, I think the CEA is, of course, monitoring that. There are a lot of insurance professionals who work there. They are concerned about inflows into the fund and the work that's going on around AB1054 enhancements. They're concerned about outflows in the fund, as well as the longer-term solutions. So I think all of those things are of interest to them. In terms of subrogation claims, they had a long discussion, but I think they recognize that they need to go through this in a measured way and figure out what actually will be the most impactful thing. I don't think that their intention is to put the utilities at risk in terms of accessing the fund.

They do.

Thanks, Ryan.

And that was our last question. I will now turn the call back over to Mr. Sam Rabraj.

Well, thank you for joining us. This concludes the conference call. Have a good rest of the day.