Pedro Pizarro
President and Chief Executive Officer at Edison International
Thanks a lot, Sam, and good afternoon, everyone. Let me start by saying that our hearts continue to be with everyone who has been impacted by the recent Southern California wildfires, including our own 18 team members who lost their homes. We are so grateful for their first responders, our colleagues and all the community partners who have begun the long recovery process. Edison's number-one value and priority remains safety, and that means the safety of the public, safety of our customers and the safety of our team members. SCE continues to make tremendous progress as it works diligently on reconstruction after the Eaton and fires. Turning to the Eaton Fire, its costs remains undetermined and the investigation continues and is complex. The SCE is examining the available evidence to help determine potential causes of ignition, including the possibility of being linked to SCE's equipment. Engineers, photogrammetrists, meteorologists and other experts are reviewing images, videos and other information as part of this review. We anticipate the full investigation will take several months or longer to complete and there isn't a discrete timeline for the county or SCE to complete their respective investigations. For example, one valuable next step involves further examination and testing of the idle transmission line near the reported point of origin to examine the equipment for things like arc marks or missing metal, but this may still take many weeks as it requires agreeing on a protocol with attorneys and other interested stakeholders. We are committed to being transparent throughout this process. While this investigation is ongoing, we believe that SCE is a reasonable operator of its electric system. Importantly, the commission has recognized in numerous decisions that the prudent standard does not demand perfection. We believe that prudence derives from the soundness of the utility's decision-making process and whether it's overall policies and systems and practices are consistent with actions of a reasonable utility. And there is CPUC precedent supporting our interpretation. If it is determined that SEE's transmission equipment was associated with the ignition of the Eaton Fire. Now based on the information we have reviewed thus far, we are confident that SCE would make a good faith showing that its conduct with respect to its transmission facilities in the Eaton Canyon area was consistent with actions of a reasonable utility. That is the standard by which the utility is judged as written into statute by AB1054. Page three provides a number of helpful links that pertain to information about SCE's wildfire mitigation, company disclosures, legislation and other resources. The catastrophic impact of the recent wildfires underscores the importance of grid resiliency and the actions SCE has taken to harden its system to support the communities it serves. SCE continues to execute its robust risk-prioritized wildfire mitigation plan, which is approved by California's Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety and ratified by the CPUC. This has significantly bolstered efforts to protect against wildfire threats and to respond when they happen. SCE has now installed more than 6,400 miles of covered conductor and has hardened nearly 90% of its distribution lines in high-fire risk area. This is in addition to significant investments in operational measures in transmission and distribution, such as vegetation management and the extensive network of weather stations and high-definition AI-enabled wildfire cameras that provide greater situational awareness for SCE and fire agencies. We will continue to invest in SCE's important work to make it system safer for its customers and communities. On the regulatory framework, SCE has received timely approval of its safety certification each year, which provides a presumption of prudency and a cap on the liability to reimburse the Wildfire fund. We have confidence in the fund and we believe it is working as intended to protect wildfire victims, customers and investors. The fund has $21 billion of claim paying capacity and has largely been unused by California IOUs. Let me also emphasize that the fund provides liquidity for paying claims, thus in the event a utility were to need to make claims payments, it would not have to use its balance sheet. Turning to the legislative front, California has consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to supporting customers and the investor own utilities that serve them. Over my own 25-year career at Edison, I have personally witnessed the state's leadership during challenging times from the energy crisis in the early 2000s to the urgent need to develop new-generation resources in the mid 2000s, managing through the financial crisis in 2008, dealing with natural gas spikes in the mid-2010s and guiding the state through the COVID pandemic. Importantly, Governor Newsom led the charge in 2019 along with his colleagues in the legislature to pass and implement AB-1054, and that is the model among all states to address wildfire risk. If we conclude SCE's equipment ignited the eat and fire, which was then fanned by hurricane force winds in-spite of firefighters' best efforts. This catastrophe is precisely what AB-1054 was designed to address, recognizing wildfire risk will never be zero. This legislation reshaped the regulatory and financial landscape by balancing wildfire cost recovery with utility accountability and customer protections. Multiple stakeholders benefit, and I want to focus on three broad areas. First, customer and community safety benefit from the risk reduction achieved through the WMP and safety certification process. Second, communities that suffer losses related to wildfires associated with utility equipment have a funding source for claims payments. And third, investor-owned utilities that participate in the fund benefit from a structure that provides liquidity for claims payments, a clear prudence standard and a liability cap, all of which support financial stability and long-term investment in the grid at the most affordable cost to customers. The magnitude of the recent wildfires has brought the long-term durability of the fund into focus. We have been actively engaged in conversations with key stakeholders, including other utilities, the governor's office and legislative leaders to find solutions to support the safety of the community, effectively manage customer costs and reinforce investor confidence in California's utilities. We are confident policymakers will make the enhancements needed to strengthen the industry-leading AB-1054 regulatory framework. Before moving on to our financial results, I'd like to note an addition to our Board of Directors that was announced last week. Former US Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, will join the Board of Directors of both EIX and SCE. Jennifer has deep expertise in energy technology, energy policy, safety and sustainability. We are thrilled that she is joining our Boards, and we look-forward to the guidance she will provide based on her understanding of the technical and political and economic forces shaping our industry today. I know Jennifer has many organizations seeking her time, so I appreciate her vote of confidence in our company's strong future. For 2024, Edison International's core EPS of $4.93 was above the midpoint of our guidance. This extends our track-record of meeting or exceeding annual EPS guidance over the last two decades. Additionally, we remain confident in our ability to meet our 2025 EPS guidance and deliver a 5% to 7% core EPS CAGR through 2028. Maria will discuss our financial performance and outlook later. Further, today, the Board declared EIX's first-quarter 2025 common stock dividend of $0.82.75 per share. Consistent with its regular process, the Board took into account a broad range of considerations and scenarios before making this declaration. There is no change to our current dividend policy or outlook, and this balances a competitive dividend that investors expect with reinvesting SCE's earnings back into the infrastructure that serves customers' needs. This consistent and growing dividend demonstrates the confidence in our financial outlook, which supports raising cost-effective capital and directly benefits customer rates. On the regulatory front, we are very encouraged by the CPUC's unanimous approval of the TKM settlement agreement, allowing SCE to recover about $1.6 billion or 60% of the wildfire claims payments and associated costs for a pre-AB1054 wildfire. Approval of the settlement signals a constructive cost recovery framework in California. In fact, following approval, CPUC President Reynolds made important remarks about cost recovery and AB-1054. She noted how under state law, SCE like public entities is liable for damages from a fire caused by its electrical system, but if the utility acted prudently, these costs are covered by customers. She also noted that because of AB-1054, in the future, the Wildfire fund would cover claims similar to those in TKM. SCE expects to file its TKM securitization application in March. The cost recovery proceeding is underway. Based on the pre-hearing conference, participating interveners noted similar areas of focus and engagement to those in TKM. If the ALJ adopts a schedule SCE and interveners jointly proposed. The next major filings to watch for are intervener testimony due in early-June and rebuttal testimony due in mid-July. The proposed schedule also includes a motion for approval of a settlement agreement or joint statement of stipulations of issues that will be due in mid-August. Just like with TKM, the utility is open to settlement discussions if a fair and reasonable outcome can be achieved. And we look-forward to keeping you updated on progress in this important proceeding. Okay, I'm going to conclude by saying that SCE is focused on partnering with impacted communities on near and long-term strategies to build back stronger, all while we continue to execute on core operations and deliver on the commitments we have laid out for you. I look-forward to sharing more updates throughout the year. With that, Maria, turn it over to you for your financial report.
