CPUC cited Edison for notification failures in the January 2025 shutoffs
A Dec. 19, 2025, CPUC citation identified 29 categories of violations tied to two January 2025 shutoff events, including 184,960 advance and 85,064 post-de-energization notification failures, and cited a $7,865,360 penalty.
Period covered: Citation issued 2025-12-19 about January 2025 events
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Citation covered two events
On Dec. 19, 2025, the California Public Utilities Commission’s Safety and Enforcement Division issued Southern California Edison citation WSEB-1 W.25-12-001. It cited 29 categories of violations tied to the company’s January 2025 Public Safety Power Shutoff events. The citation said SCE de-energized 515,589 customers across eight counties during the two events, including 16,941 Medical Baseline customers. [1]
The citation counted 184,960 advance-notification failures and 85,064 post-de-energization notification failures. Those are missed notices, not counts of unique people. The notification timeline covered advance notice, notice when shutoff began, notice immediately before re-energization and notice when restoration was complete. [1]
These are counts of notification failures, not unique people, and should not be added to estimate affected customers. The citation records findings and a cited penalty, not the final appeal outcome.
LACEHH original graphic · Sources: California Public Utilities Commission.
What notices were missing
The CPUC said SCE’s customer notification scripts for both events included the estimated start date and fire-weather conditions but omitted the estimated start time and estimated time to restoration. The citation also said public-safety partners were not given estimated full-restoration times. [1]
Other cited findings concerned inaccurate or incomplete shutoff boundary information, a delayed homepage banner during the Jan. 4 event, and missing positive notifications to some Medical Baseline and self-certified customers. The citation also said 25,423 critical facilities and general customers were not notified when a shutoff was canceled or they were removed from its scope. [1]
Household planning and cited penalty
The CPUC said notification failures could leave customers without time to plan for a de-energization and could increase physical or economic risks. The cited events included Medical Baseline customers, but the citation does not identify individual household outcomes. [1]
The citation set a penalty of $7,865,360 and called for SCE to pay or appeal within the prescribed period. Payment or appeal would not excuse correction of the cited violations, and a timely appeal would stay penalties during the appeal process. The citation establishes that the penalty was issued; it does not establish whether SCE paid it or appealed, or the final outcome of any appeal. It addressed shutoff compliance and notification, not a determination of fire causation. [1]
Sources & further reading
- CPUC citation WSEB-1 W.25-12-001, December 19, 2025California Public Utilities Commission · 2025-12-19 citation
- Extreme Weather Restoration Update - SCE Updates | Energized by EdisonSouthern California Edison / Energized · 2025-01-17; contains earlier dated updates
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