Edison Utility Accused of Secretly Damaging Power Line Evidence

Edison International‘s Southern California utility likely damaged key evidence of its power lines in Eaton Canyon, even as its lawyers told a state judge in Los Angeles the evidence was being preserved, lawyers suing the utility said.

A regulatory filing revealed that transmission lines in Eaton Canyon were re-energized Jan. 19, and field observers saw a “small flash of light” along the lines, which lawyers with Edelson PC say was dangerous electrical arcing. That re-energization was weeks after the Eaton Fire ignited on Jan. 7 and during a period that Edelson says Edison had promised “not to touch” the ...