There are a number of factors contributing to rising electricity bills including the increasing wildfire prevention efforts, rising gas prices, and wildfire insurance costs, which have not gone unnoticed by some of Southern California Edison’s (SCE) 15 million customers. Ron Gales, a spokesperson for the utility, additionally said efforts to prevent SCE’s power lines from sparking new fires in the state, are also partly to blame. “Southern California Edison wants to make sure that we are not the cause of any other catastrophic wildfires,” said Gales. SCE was fined more than $550 million last December for faulty equipment that sparked five wildfires in the state in 2017 and 2018, including the so-called Woolsey and Thomas fires, which destroyed about 350,000 acres combined. Under terms of the agreement with the California Public Utilities Commission, SCE shareholders will pay a $110 million penalty and contribute $65 million to safety measures. SCE, however, …