SCE Pays $20 Million Settlement To MRCA

AGOURA HILLS, CA — Southern California Edison agreed March 19 to pay $20 million to the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority over damages from the Woolsey Fire.

The fire destroyed over 14,800 acres of parkland overseen by the MRCA, a joint powers agency between the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, Conejo Recreation and Park District, and Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District. A class-action suit was filed on behalf of thousands of local businesses and residents demanding the utility company recoup some of the costs, according to a report in the Ventura County Star.

“The Woolsey Fire caused tremendous damage to the recreational and ecological value of MRCA’s parklands,” attorney Alexander Robertson, of Robertson & Associates, said in a statement. “This money will help MRCA to continue its mission to provide stewardship for a wide variety of public park and open spaces in the Southern California mountains.”

SCE has shelled out billions since the Woolsey Fire. In January, it paid $2.2 billion in subrogation claims - or reimbursement to insurance companies - to over 1000 plaintiffs in relation to the Woolsey Fire, the 2017 Thomas and Koenigstein fires, and the 2018 Montecito Mudslides.

In 2019, SCE paid a total of $360 million for the Thomas and Woolsey fires, part of which went to the city of Agoura Hills, the city of Malibu, the city of Calabasas, the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency, the Conejo Recreation and Park District, and the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District.