SoCal Edison Loses Effort to Cut Property Tax for Wildfire Risk

Southern California Edison Co. failed to convince California’s elected tax board for the third year in a row that risks and expenses from the “new reality” of wildfires should reduce the company’s property values and annual tax bill significantly.

The five-member State Board of Equalization voted 4-1 Tuesday to reject arguments from Edison that its 2022 property valuation should be $27 billion, rather than the $34.3 billion recommended by the board’s staff.

The power company serves 15 million people spread over 50,000 square miles in southern, central, and coastal California. Edison’s faulty equipment caused the 2018 Woolsey fire in ...