Are egg producers inflating prices during the bird flu outbreak to boost profits?

• February 28, 2025

By JOSH FUNK, Associated Press Business Writer

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Egg producers blame the bird flu outbreak for driving prices to record highs, but critics believe giant companies are taking advantage of their market dominance to profit handsomely at the expense of budget-conscious egg buyers.

Advocacy groups, Democratic lawmakers and a Federal Trade Commission member are calling for a government investigation after egg prices spiked to a record average of $4.95 per dozen this month. The Trump administration did unveil a plan this week to combat bird flu, but how much that might ease egg prices — a key driver of inflation — remains to be seen.

“Donald Trump promised to lower food prices on ‘Day One’, but with egg prices skyrocketing out of control, he fired the workers charged with containing bird flu. Working families need relief now,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in a statement.

What’s behind the record egg prices?

The industry, and most experts, squarely blame bird flu. More than 166 million birds have been slaughtered to contain the virus. Some 30 million egg layers have been wiped out just since January, significantly disrupting egg supplies. The Department of Agriculture’s longstanding policy has been to kill entire flocks anytime the virus is found on a farm.

As a result, the number of egg layers has dropped nationwide by about 12% from before the outbreak to 292 million birds, according to a Feb. 1 USDA estimate, but another 11 million egg layers have been killed since then, so it’s likely worse. When prices spiked to $4.82 two years ago and prompted initial calls for price gouging probes, the flock was above 300 million.

“This has nothing to do with anything other than bird flu. And I think to suggest anything else is a misreading of the facts and the reality,” American Egg Board President Emily Metz said.

“Our farmers are in the fight of their lives, period, full stop. And they’re doing everything they can to keep these birds safe,” Metz said. “This is a supply challenge. Due to bird flu. Nothing else.”

Farm Action suspects monopolistic behavior. The group that lobbies on behalf of smaller farmers, consumers and rural communities notes that egg production is only down about 4% from last year and some 7.57 billion table eggs were produced last month, yet some consumers are still finding egg shelves empty at their local grocery stores.

“Dominant egg corporations are blaming avian flu for the price hikes that we’re seeing. But while the egg supply has fallen only slightly, these companies profits have soared,” said Angela Huffman, Farm Action’s president. The Justice Department acknowledged receiving the group’s letter calling for an investigation but declined to comment on it.

The fact that a jury ruled in 2023 that major egg producers used various means to limit the domestic supply of eggs to increase the price of products during the 2000s only adds to the doubts about their motives now.

What do the numbers show?

Retail egg prices had generally remained below $2 per dozen for years before this outbreak began. Prices have more than doubled since then, boosting profits for egg producers even as they deal with soaring costs.

Most of the dominant producers are privately held companies and don’t release their results. But the biggest, Cal-Maine Foods, which supplies about 20% of the nation’s eggs, is public, and its profits increased dramatically. Cal-Maine reported a $219 million profit in the most recent quarter when its eggs sold for an average of $2.74 per dozen, up from just $1.2 million in the quarter just before this outbreak began in early 2022 when its eggs were selling for $1.37 per dozen.

Sherman Miller, Cal-Maine’s president and CEO, said in reporting the numbers that higher market prices “have continued to rise this fiscal year as supply levels of shell eggs have been restricted due to recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza.”

But he said Cal-Maine also sold significantly more eggs — some 330 million dozens, up from 288 million the year before — in the quarter because demand is so strong and Cal-Maine has made a number of acquisitions. Cal-Maine also suffered few outbreaks on its farms, outside of a couple facilities in Kansas and Texas. The Mississippi-based company didn’t respond to calls from The Associated Press.

What about production costs?

Economists and analysts say the record egg prices aren’t a sure sign of something nefarious, and short-term profits might only last until farms get hit. Once a flock is slaughtered, it can take as long as a year to clean a farm and raise new birds to egg-laying age. The USDA pays farmers for every bird killed, but it doesn’t cover all the costs for farmers as they go without income.

“The consumer, I think, will probably feel like they’re getting the rough end of the stick. But I guarantee you, the farmers that are having to depopulate the barns, they’re having a rougher time,” CoBank analyst Brian Earnest said.

Inflation in the costs of feed and fuel and labor have contributed to rising egg prices, and farmers have been investing in biosecurity measures to help keep the virus away. So production costs also appear to be at an all-time high, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ producer price index.

“This isn’t a case where they’re taking the price up to gouge the market. It is the price is going up through auction at wholesale. And they’re benefiting from higher prices because supplies are tight,” University of Arkansas agricultural economist Jada Thompson said.

​ Orange County Register 

LeBron James, Luka Doncic help Lakers fend off Timberwolves for 4th straight win

• February 28, 2025

LOS ANGELES — The Lakers’ recent success, having the league’s best record since Jan. 15, has come in large part because they have consistently played with greater effort.

LeBron James had 33 points, 17 rebounds and six assists as they held off the Minnesota Timberwolves, 111-102, for their 16th win in 20 games on Thursday night, but the game illustrated the cost of consistently having to play as hard as they have.

The Lakers’ offense sputtered after a strong start, partly because the short-handed Timberwolves (playing without Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle) tightened up their defense. But the Lakers’ offense also stagnated, and they seemed to lack the energy to pull themselves out of the rut.

The Lakers shot 69.6% from the free-throw line (32 for 46) – an indication their legs were waning as the game progressed.

“You could certainly speculate maybe that the shooting woes are because guys are playing so hard defensively, maybe,” said Coach JJ Redick, whose team is now 15 games over .500 at 36-21. “I don’t know. I know we’ve had some good games [shooting the ball] where we’ve played as hard as we played tonight. So, it’s something we’ll monitor for sure.”

James and Luka Doncic (21 points, 13 rebounds, five assists) helped get the Lakers across the finish line after their 23-point lead was cut to four late in the fourth quarter. James and Doncic combined for 14 of the Lakers’ 27 fourth-quarter points and 10 rebounds in the final period.

“We know we could have been a lot better offensively, but, we’ve been hanging our hat on our defense,” James said. “And when you don’t shoot the ball well, you got to be able to get stops and they made a run. They’re a really good team. But we were able to execute after that, get some timely stops and were able to come on with the win.”

Minnesota trailed 92-77 less than three minutes into the fourth quarter before going on a 13-1 run. With the Lakers clinging to a 95-91 lead, Doncic made an off-balance 3-pointer (off an assist from James) with 3:37 left and the shot clock winding down for a 98-91 lead.

“The shots I made, the shots I miss, it’s just, I have no idea what’s going on,” Doncic said. “But when it left my hand, I knew it was good. So it’s weird.”

It was the only 3-pointer Doncic made (on nine attempts) as he shot 6 for 20 from the field, but the Timberwolves didn’t get any closer than four for the rest of the night.

Doncic’s father was seen in the stands covering his face after Doncic’s lone 3-pointer.

“He probably said, ‘Finally, he made a shot,’” Doncic quipped. “I don’t think he was impressed.”

Since joining the Lakers, Doncic is shooting 11 for 49 from 3-point range (22.4%).

“The big thing for me is you gotta go through a lot of downs to get to the highest point,” he said. “But it’s a big challenge for me, just getting back into my rhythm. Making those easier shots for me. And it’s a big challenge for me. And I look forward to it.”

Austin Reaves finished with 23 points (six in the fourth), six rebounds and five assists.

The Lakers scored 25 points in the second and 26 third quarters after having a 33-17 at the end of the first.

They led by 23 (47-24) early in the second but the margin was trimmed to 11 (58-47) at halftime after the Timberwolves scored nine of the final 13 points of the second, including back-to-back 3-pointers from Terrence Shannon Jr. and Anthony Edwards.

Edwards was ejected midway through the third after picking up his second technical foul of the night, with the Lakers leading 74-59, seemingly upset about a non-call.

After briefly carrying the ball around after being ejected, Edwards threw it into the front row seats on the baseline near the Timberwolves’ bench instead of giving it to the referees, triggering a delay-of-game violation.

Edwards’ second technical on Thursday was his 16th of the season, which means he’ll be suspended for one game if a technical isn’t rescinded.

Lakers forward Rui Hachimura left the game early in the third, coming up gimpy after dunking in transition and immediately went to the locker room. The Lakers ruled Hachimura out later in the quarter because of a strained left knee.

“We’ll get more information over the next 24 hours,” Redick said. “Concern when any guy gets hurt in particular one of our best players and a guy who’s been so important to everything we’ve done [at both ends of the court] this year. I’m not going to speculate on the severity of the injury. I’m hopeful that it’s nothing serious.”

Shannon led Minnesota (32-28) with a career-high 25 points and five rebounds off the bench and Edwards, who is fourth in the league at 27.3 ppg, had 18 points, six rebounds and five assists before departing. The Timberwolves have dropped three of four games and five of their past seven.

The Lakers return to Crypto.com Arena on Friday night to host the Clippers on the second night of a back-to-back. The teams will square off again on Sunday night, also at Crypto.com Arena.

These will be the Clippers’ first games at the downtown venue since they started playing home games at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood this season.

Doncic said he’ll be questionable for Friday after banging knees with a Timberwolves player in the fourth.

​ Orange County Register 

Surging Ducks rally past Canucks, extend home-ice mojo

• February 28, 2025

ANAHEIM — No lead – for or against – is safe when the Ducks are on the ice.

They’ve either overturned or retroceded at least one multi-goal lead in each of their past four games, including a two-tally advantage for the Vancouver Canucks, whom they rallied to defeat, 5-2, on Thursday night at Honda Center in their first home game in 3½ weeks.

Five unanswered goals earned the Ducks their fifth consecutive home win, moving them to 8-1-1 in their past 10 games at the arena formerly known as The Pond. They’ve secured 17 of their last 22 possible points overall – their most productive stretch of play since November 2021 – and are tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for the NHL lead in multi-goal comeback wins at home (four).

For Vancouver, its three-game win streak came to an end, leaving three teams within three points of the Canucks for the final wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Ducks (26-25-7, 59 points) – on pace for a 24-point improvement in the standings from last season – now sit six points back as they try to end a playoff drought that dates to 2018.

Ryan Strome and Troy Terry combined for six points, notching a goal and two assists apiece. Cutter Gauthier, Frank Vatrano and Jackson LaCombe all scored goals, while Mason McTavish and Isac Lundeström each chipped in two assists. Lukáš Dostál held the Ducks in the game with 22 saves.

For Vancouver, Tyler Myers scored a goal and assisted on one by Pius Suter in the first period. Arturs Silovs stopped 20 of 24 shots.

The final 20 minutes of the match tested Dostál early during a power play, but gradually the Ducks seized control.

Just 4:14 showed on the clock when LaCombe surveyed the slot patiently and roofed a shot that iced the victory and got him into double digits for the season. All four goals against the goalie were highlight reel-worthy, with Vatrano noting that “guys were seeing the net well.” Terry’s 17th goal of the season was launched into the vacated cage with 2:06 to play, sending the crowd home with a decisive win and free chicken to boot.

“It’s nice to score [five goals], my kids are going to be excited that there’s free chicken now. That’s all I get told at home,” Strome joked. “At this time of year, we don’t care if it’s 2-1 or 5-2 … you’re seeing contributions from everybody and a lot of selfless acts out there.”

In the second period, the Ducks turned the tilt completely by flipping a two-goal deficit into a one-goal edge by the second intermission, scoring at 5:27, 9:09 and 18:41.

The Ducks’ top line cycled the puck with Terry flicking a low-flying shot that created a recovery for Strome, who found Vatrano for a far-side one-timer from the left faceoff dot. Vatrano’s 18th goal of the year sliced the Ducks’ deficit in half.

“They got us going, just by putting the puck deep and getting it back,” Coach Greg Cronin said of his go-to trio. “They had a couple offensive-zone shifts in the second period that allowed us to get a lot of energy.”

They leveled the count when Gauthier, who tied for the game high with four shots on goal Thursday, delivered a counterpunch for his 12th goal of the season. He skated into Lundeström’s lead pass and dashed ahead to rip yet another far-side shot from the left dot.

“He can look like he’s not involved in the game, and then, the next thing you know, you see his speed and his shot, and, bang, he’s got that game-breaking ability,” Strome said.

Strome, who had been visible all night, gave the hosts their first lead. His timely break into a skating lane and McTavish’s authoritative pass synergized perfectly to turn a rush without numbers into a go-ahead goal, Strome’s ninth.

The Ducks buzzed early and fell flat later in the first period, bookending the frame with goals against at the 3:17 and 16:52 marks.

After scoring two power-play goals for the first time in about 14 weeks in Buffalo, the Ducks had the game’s first power play on Thursday. Not only did they fail to convert, but as Myers’ penalty expired, Gauthier tried to jam a puck into the slot with an off-balance heave, a pass that was effortlessly disrupted to key a counterattack. Myers exited the box, received the puck and wrapped up the rush with a missile from high in the right circle to take a 1-0 lead.

Gauthier nearly redeemed himself instantaneously with a potent shot, but Silovs made a glove save that was later one-upped by Dostál’s ensnaring of Quinn Hughes’ dangerous against-the-grain wrister from the left dot.

Myers factored centrally into the Canucks’ second goal, this time with a primary assist. Again he activated, gliding to the puck atop the right circle and weaving his way below the goal line. He circled the net, selling a pass high with his eyes before zipping a centering feed that Suter redirected through the wickets of Dostál.

Dostál stopped all 17 shots fired at him during the rest of the contest, enabling the Ducks to find their footing and storm back for a victory.

“He was terrific. Goalies are game managers, and I thought he managed the puck well,” Cronin said. “He made the big saves when he needed to. He’s probably been our best player, him and (John Gibson), the entire year.”

BY THE NUMBERS

Vancouver dropped to 0-16-4 when trailing at the second intermission, while the Ducks are now 15-2-2 when leading after 40 minutes despite blowing a late lead in Buffalo on Tuesday.

UP NEXT

The Ducks host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday at 7 p.m.

​ Orange County Register 

5 freeway through Grapevine under a high wind warning until Friday evening

• February 28, 2025

On Thursday at 11:54 p.m. a high wind warning was issued by the National Weather Service in effect until Friday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. for 5 freeway through Grapevine.

“Southeast winds 25 to 45 mph with gusts up to 60 mph,” can be anticipated according to the NWS Hanford CA. “Strongest wind gusts at the higher elevations, gusts along the I-5 around 40 to 50 mph.”

“Damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines. Widespread power outages are expected. Travel will be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles,” according to the NWS. “Remain in the lower levels of your home during the windstorm, and avoid windows. Watch for falling debris and tree limbs. Use caution if you must drive.”

Emergency alerts in Southern California

For “considerable or catastrophic” hazards, emergency alerts will be sent to all enabled mobile phones in the area. To monitor lesser risk, residents are advised to sign up for county alert systems and to monitor agencies’ social media. How to sign up for alerts in your area:

LA County

Orange County

Riverside County

San Bernardino County

​ Orange County Register 

Mater Dei and Orange Lutheran girls water polo teams reach CIF SoCal Regional final

• February 28, 2025

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The girls water polo showdown that many expected last weekend will surface this weekend in another championship format.

Mater Dei and Orange Lutheran each won their respective Division I semifinal matches Thursday in the CIF Southern California Regional to advance to Saturday’s 2 p.m. championship at Long Beach City College.

The Monarchs held off Newport Harbor 10-8 at Costa Mesa High while Orange Lutheran handled CIF-SS Open Division champion and host Oaks Christian 12-2.

Last week in the CIF-SS Open Division semifinals, top-ranked Mater Dei was stunned in overtime by visiting Oaks Christian. Orange Lutheran, the two-time defending Open Division champion, was upset in double sudden-death overtime by Newport Harbor.

On Feb. 22, Oaks Christian defeated Newport Harbor 7-5 in the section final.

On Thursday, Mater Dei (26-4) scored the first five goals and led by as many as six in never trailing against Newport Harbor (25-7).

After trailing 8-4 at halftime, the Sailors continued to chip away at their deficit in the second half and had a chance to make it a one-goal game in the final minute of regulation. But with 50 seconds left, Newport Harbor turned the ball for a stalling violation in their backcourt.

The Sailors held Mater Dei scoreless in the fourth period, which made the Monarchs’ buzzer-beating goal to close the third period loom significant. Mater Dei executed a 7 on 6 attack with sharp-shooter Kirra Pantaleon — who missed most of the third with two fouls — as the goalie in the field. Riley Johnson scored to give the Monarchs a 10-6 lead going to the fourth quarter.

Mater Dei went 4 for the 7 on the traditional, power play while Newport Harbor finished 1 for 5.

Both goalies played well. Mater Dei’s Sienna Sorensen had nine saves, including one against a 6 on 4 power play in the opening period. Newport Harbor’s Lydia Soderberg made eight saves.

U.S. national team member Allison Cohen had four goals and five assists and Kyla Pranajaya made 11 saves to lead Orange Lutheran (26-4) in its semifinal. The Lancers finished 4-0 against Oaks Christian this winter.

During the regular season, Mater Dei defeated Orange Lutheran in three of the teams’ four matches. The Lancers won the Trinity League showdown for the league title.

The other regional finals on Saturday at Long Beach City College will pit Clairemont-Valhalla in Division II at 12:30 p.m. and Cathedral Catholic-Birmingham in Division III at 11 a.m.

​ Orange County Register 

UC Irvine routs Cal State Fullerton to keep Big West title hopes alive

• February 28, 2025

FULLERTON — In Thursday night’s game between the UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball teams, it was apparent early which team was near the top of the Big West standings and which team was at the bottom.

Jurian Dixon had a career-high 21 points, Justin Hohn scored 18 and Bent Leuchten had another double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds) as UCI dominated both ends of the court and handed Fullerton its ninth consecutive loss, 76-51, at Titan Gym.

The Anteaters had a double-digit lead less than six minutes into the game, held a 20-point cushion at halftime and led by as much as 32 points in the second half, holding the lead for nearly 38 minutes.

UCI (24-5 overall, 14-3 Big West) had a season-high 11 blocked shots and held Fullerton (6-23, 1-16) to 38.2% shooting from the floor and a 3-for-16 showing from 3-point range to stay in the hunt for the Big West regular-season title and one of the top two seeds in the conference tournament.

UCI is one game behind first-place UC San Diego (25-4, 15-2) and two games ahead of third-place Cal State Northridge (20-8, 12-5) with three games left. The top two seeds in the 10-team Big West Tournament receive double byes into the semifinals.

Elijah Chol had a team-high five blocks for the Anteaters, matching his career-high from earlier this season against Duquesne. Leuchten added three and Kyle Evans had two.

“Defense is what we know we can do to separate ourselves from other teams,” UCI coach Russell Turner said. “We’ve been good on the road because we’ve had a good defensive mentality. We have some dynamic shot blockers. I feel good about the overall defensive effort.”

Turner’s comments about UCI being good on the road is an understatement. This was the Anteaters’ NCAA-best 12th road win of the season. They also have three wins at neutral sites and their 15 wins away from their home court are tied with UCSD for the most in the nation.

Dixon, a redshirt freshman, shot 9 for 11 from the field while pacing the offense and added three steals.

“Jurian is getting better and better,” Turner said. “I’m really excited for the way he both defends and makes unselfish plays on the offensive end. He’s coming into his own right before our eyes.”

UCI went on a 17-2 run early in the first half and added an 11-2 surge later in the half.

The Anteaters led by as many as 24 points in the first half and shot 58.6% from the field compared to just 25.8% from Fullerton.

UCI shot 6 for 13 from 3-point range in the first half and finished the night 10 for 28. Fullerton was daring UCI to shoot from outside in the first half and the Anteaters gladly accepted the open shots.

“Fullerton was packing the paint against us, challenging us to move the ball, find 3-point shooters with rhythm and knock them down,” Turner said. “That’s probably what I would have done if I were in their position, and we made them. We have guys who shoot at a really high percentage and we create good shots for one another.”

UCI’s dominant defense was even more impressive after the intermission. The Anteaters blocked seven shots and had eight steals in the second half.

Kendrick De Luna (10 points) was the only player to score in double-figures for Fullerton, which has lost its last three games by an average of nearly 31 points. Antwan Robinson added eight points and six rebounds, Donovan Oday had eight points and Kaleb Brown grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds.

UCI hosts Long Beach State on Saturday night in its final home game of the season. LBSU pushed UCI to overtime in their first meeting this season.

“(They) are a team whose record doesn’t indicate how good and dangerous they can be,” Turner said. “We’re going to need to bring it.”

The Titans play at UCSD on Saturday night.

BIG WEST STANDINGS

Through Thursday, Feb. 27

UC San Diego – 25-4, 15-2

UC Irvine – 24-5, 14-3

CS Northridge – 20-8, 12-5

UC Riverside – 19-11, 12-6

UC Santa Barbara – 19-10, 11-7

UC Davis – 15-13, 9-8

CS Bakersfield – 13-17, 7-11

Hawaii – 14-14, 6-11

Cal Poly (SLO) – 11-18, 5-12

Long Beach State – 7-22, 3-14

CS Fullerton – 6-23, 1-16

​ Orange County Register 

Lakers’ Luka Doncic creating off-ball opportunities for LeBron James, Austin Reaves

• February 28, 2025

LOS ANGELES — Lakers coach JJ Redick said last weekend that Luka Doncic would need to be the player who controls the offense.

And through his first five games, it’s not only played out that way, but it’s also allowed LeBron James and Austin Reaves to create offense in other ways.

Since making his Lakers debut in the Feb. 10 home win against the Utah Jazz, Doncic leads the team in usage rate (31.1% entering Thursday’s home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves), just a smidge above James (30.4%) and significantly higher than Reaves (22.2%).

With the way the Lakers stagger the three within different lineup combinations, James and Reaves still get their fair share of on-ball opportunities, leading units on their own but also in scenarios when it’s two of the three are on the court together.

But Doncic’s presence has opened more off-ball scoring opportunities for James and Reaves.

In the five games before Doncic made his debut, Reaves averaged 2.8 catch-and-shoot 3-pointers per game (28.6% shooting), while James averaged 1.8 (42.9%) in the four games he played from Jan. 30-Feb. 9.

Since Doncic’s debut, those catch-and-shoot opportunities have been more present.

Reaves has averaged 4.3 catch-and-shoot 3s since Doncic made his debut (30.8% shooting) while James has averaged 3.8 (56.5%).

But Doncic’s impact on James and Reaves goes beyond allowing them to shoot easier shots.

“The biggest effect of that is with Austin because of how much ball-handling he had to do,” Redick said before Thursday’s game. “It wasn’t even just the shot creation part for himself and others. It was literally just getting the ball across halfcourt.

“He was in the lineup a lot of times without a ball-handler. And now, I think in five games, I there’s been one scenario where we’re in an [out of timeout play] and I’m like, ‘let’s do this’ and we only have one ball-handler out there. Now, we have Gabe [Vincent], Austin, Luka, sometimes [Jordan Goodwin] even, we have four guys that can do it. And that’s what we try to do all year with LeBron is not tax him with just bringing the ball up. We want him obviously to have the basketball, but in his spots and in the halfcourt.”

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch acknowledged the kind of threat James is off the ball.

“I mean such a great downhill player on the catch, so if you’re over helping in the gaps, you’re gonna open a massive like runways for him to get downhill,” he said. “That’s a not going to end well for a defense, generally. That’s probably the biggest thing.”

Finch added: “Generally, you’ll throw double-teams at Luka, but when LeBron’s off the ball and try receiving it quickly, he’s such a great passer, he can pick you apart. It’s funny. We spent a lot of our coaches’ meeting talking about LeBron off-ball and what that does to a defense. So just a whole other threat level.”

​ Orange County Register 

Edison says it acted prudently even if found liable in Eaton fire

• February 28, 2025

By Mark Chediak | Bloomberg

Edison International said transmission operations of its Southern California utility were managed responsibly, even if investigators determine the equipment sparked a deadly fire near Los Angeles.

The company is confident Southern California Edison “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,” Edison Chief Executive Officer Pedro Pizarro said during the company’s earnings call Thursday.

Edison is facing mounting scrutiny for the possible role its equipment may have played in the Eaton wildfire. California’s utilities have started some of the state’s worst wildfires, pushing one of them — PG&E Corp. — to declare bankruptcy and leaving investors on edge. Edison has lost about a third of its market value since the Eaton Fire erupted Jan. 7, destroying more than 9,000 structures and cause damage estimated at $7 billion to $10 billion.

Under California reforms designed to improve utility wildfire safety practices, a utility can recover from customer damage claims related to a fire tied to its equipment if regulators determine that it acted prudently.

Pizarro said the size and scope of the Los Angeles wildfires have raised investor concerns about the durability of the state’s $21 billion wildfire insurance fund set up to cover claims from blazes started by utility equipment.

The company is certain policymakers will strengthen the fund and make other changes to shore up the financial health of the state’s utilities. Pizarro added the utility would like to see near-term fixes to help reassure its investors.

Edison said it continues to look into the possibility that its transmission facilities started the fire.

​ Orange County Register