Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Edison International (Edison) demonstrates active and mostly positive engagement on US climate policy, with subsidiary Southern California Edison (SCE) engaging with mostly positive positions in California. While the company advocates for certain decarbonization measures, it takes less supportive positions on rooftop solar and the transition from fossil gas. CEO Pedro Pizarro serves as the 2023-2024 Chair of the Board for Edison Electric Institute (EEI), which takes a mix of positions on climate policy and advocates for a long-term role for fossil gas.

Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Edison has positive top-line messaging on climate policy. CEO Pedro Pizarro has been vocal on climate: in an October 2022 blog for the World Climate Foundation, Pizarro called for a faster rate of emissions reductions, and in a February 2022 interview with the Washington Post, he emphasized his concerns about the cost of inaction on the federal Build Back Better Act's climate provisions. The company has been a signatory to the We Are Still Initiative since its origin in 2017, calling for the incoming Biden administration in December 2020 to rejoin the Paris Agreement.

Engagement with Climate-Related Policy: Edison engages on climate-related policies with mostly positive positions. The company has advocated for federal climate legislation, calling for Congressional leadership to pass the Build Back Better Act’s clean energy tax credits in a February 2022 C2ES joint letter. That same month, following the utility roundtable with President Biden to discuss the Build Back Better Act, CEO Pizarro reiterated his support for the legislation's tax credits in a Washington Post interview. Subsidiary SCE has taken positive positions on federal climate regulations, submitting October 2022 comments, for example, in support of the Department of Energy’s proposal to increase the energy conservation standards for gas and propane furnaces.

However, the company has advocated for weaker rooftop solar subsidies in California. In March 2021, SCE submitted a joint proposal to California regulators that called for a partial rollback of the subsidies in the state’s Net Energy Metering (NEM) program. The company continued to advocate for the rollback, including in August 2022 and February 2022 Clean Energy for All Coalition letters as well as a November 2022 opinion piece by CEO Pizarro in the Los Angeles Times, in which he emphasized that “now is not the time to continue outdated, extravagant subsidies.” Following a final vote by the Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in December 2022, the updated NEM program took effect in April 2023, significantly reducing net metering credits for new rooftop solar customers.

Positioning on Energy Transition: Edison takes mostly positive positions on the energy transition, however CEO Pizarro has recently expressed less supportive views, including on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s proposed rules for addressing power plant GHG emissions. Pizarro frequently supports federal and state decarbonization measures: following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022, Pizarro wrote a LinkedIn post that celebrated the law’s climate investments, and in a November 2022 earnings call he stated support for California’s 2035 zero-emission vehicle target. However, in an August 2023 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Pizarro emphasized that the EPA’s draft rules, which propose staggered standards for coal and gas plants that would take effect starting in 2030, are not legally defensible, and that the use of hydrogen and carbon capture as compliance technologies is not technically achievable within the proposed scope and timeline. In the same interview, Pizarro stated that “there’s no daylight between Southern California Edison and the Edison Electric Institute on this topic,” thereby aligning the company with EEI’s own negative position on the rules. Neither Edison nor SCE has submitted individual comments on the rules.

SCE actively engages on California rulemakings related to the energy mix with a variety of positions. During the public comment period for the 2022 Scoping Plan update, the company submitted multiple comments, including in October 2022, that supported the climate plan’s building decarbonization measures without specifying a clear position on the long-term role of fossil gas. SCE has been supportive of other building electrification proposals: in December 2021 comments, SCE supported the CPUC’s proposal to eliminate fossil gas infrastructure incentives, and during the 2022 Energy Code Update rulemaking, SCE submitted June 2021 comments that advocated to the California Energy Commission (CEC) for an all-electric new construction code with electric retrofits.

Industry Association Governance: Edison International discloses its trade association memberships on its corporate website, however the company does not describe each group’s specific climate policy engagements. Edison is a member of Business Roundtable, which demonstrates a mix of positions on US climate policy, and subsidiary Southern California Edison is a board member of the California Chamber of Commerce, which continues to oppose a range of state climate proposals. CEO Pizarro serves as the 2023-2024 Chair of the Board for the Edison Electric Institute (EEI). EEI, which engages with both negative and positive positions on US climate policy, advocates for a long-term role for fossil gas and opposed the EPA’s proposed rules for addressing power plant GHG emissions.