ROSEMEAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Edison International published its 2019 Sustainability Report on the company’s achievements toward a sweeping set of measurable goals related to clean energy, transportation electrification, diversity and inclusion, and safety, while emphasizing its commitment to providing customers safe, reliable, affordable and clean electricity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company maintains its dedication to safety for communities, customers and employees, including carrying out its plan to reduce wildfire risk. The company’s utility subsidiary is proposing to invest more than $5 billion each year in the power grid, working to build resiliency against threats such as wildfires.
“Sustainability is central to our vision for leading the transformation of the electric power industry, and we’re committed to doing our part to respond to the global challenge of climate change,” said Pedro J. Pizarro, president and CEO of Edison International. “While our initial response to COVID-19 has been comprehensive, our long-term sustainability goals underpin the company’s efforts toward a clean energy future and a just and equitable economic recovery. As always, we are committed to safety and to making it our top priority.”
Edison International’s largest subsidiary, Southern California Edison (SCE), has cut the emissions from delivered electricity nearly in half since 2005, providing an estimated 48% carbon-free electricity to customers in 2019. It also launched Charge Ready Transport, the largest truck and transit charging initiative in the nation, and added infrastructure to support more than 200 new light-duty vehicle charge ports. SCE won the U.S. Department of Energy’s first Electricity Industry Technology and Practices Innovation Challenge Tier One Gold Prize for grid innovation. In May 2020, SCE announced one of the largest energy storage procurements in the nation.
In 2019, the company’s Edison Energy subsidiary facilitated the largest clean energy procurement in automotive history on behalf of American Honda Motor Company, Inc. The deal, which included two long-term virtual power purchase agreements totaling 320 megawatts of renewable power capacity, will cover more than 60% of the electricity that Honda uses in North America. Edison Energy also helped its customers – including 12 of the Fortune 50 – source, evaluate and execute renewable energy power purchase agreements totaling 1.85 gigawatts in 2019 alone.
Edison International continued to advance its long-term climate change objectives. In November 2019, SCE released Pathway 2045, its blueprint for how California can affordably combat climate change. In December, Pizarro participated in the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25) as a business delegate to share the Pathway blueprint and also signed the Joint Labor Union and CEO Statement on the Paris Agreement.
Meanwhile, SCE’s near-term climate adaptation focus is on reducing wildfire risk. SCE successfully executed its 2019 Wildfire Mitigation Plan and continues to take aggressive action, going well beyond standard industry practices to safeguard public safety, to implement its 2020-22 Wildfire Mitigation Plan.
“Overall, Edison International is deepening our commitment to sustainability as we begin tracking our progress toward long-term, measurable goals,” explained Drew Murphy, Edison International senior vice president of Strategy and Corporate Development. “Among other things, these goals include delivering 100% carbon-free power to customers by 2045 in accordance with California law, expanding infrastructure to support electric vehicles throughout SCE’s service area and electrifying SCE’s fleet, including all of its light-duty vehicles, by 2030.”
“Importantly, we’ve also begun mapping our contributions to the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals and affirmed our commitment to all our stakeholders as a signatory to the Business Roundtable Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation,” Murphy added. “Powering our work every day is a talented Edison team. Among our commitments is fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace that’s grounded in safety.”
Since 2016, Edison International has made steady progress. The company has:
- Increased the percentage of women in senior operating roles from 27% to 35%, with a goal of gender parity by 2030.
- Increased the diversity of its board, with seven of the 11 board directors being diverse in terms of gender, race, ethnicity and LGBTQ identification, including four women.
“Beyond capturing the important advantages a diverse workforce offers, we are making sure our culture is inclusive and is one in which our employees choose safety for themselves, their loved ones and their colleagues every day. Safety is always our top priority,” Pizarro concluded.
Visit the 2019 Sustainability Report.
About Edison International
Edison International (NYSE: EIX) is one of the nation’s largest electric utility holding companies, providing clean and reliable energy and energy services through its independent companies. Headquartered in Rosemead, California, Edison International is the parent company of Southern California Edison Company, a utility that delivers electricity to 15 million people across Southern, Central, and Coastal California. Edison International is also the parent company of Edison Energy, a global energy advisory company delivering comprehensive, data-driven energy solutions to commercial and industrial users to meet their cost, sustainability, and risk goals.