The onslaught of wildfires in Los Angeles and surrounding southern California communities has caused a dramatic drop in the stock of Edison International, the utility that serves much of the affected area, affecting the utility’s 401 (k) plan investors who hold company stock.

Fear and uncertainty surrounding the wildfires in California appear to be weighing on shares of Edison International, whose Southern California Edison is the power utility for the areas directly surrounding the city of Los Angeles.

As of 4 p.m. PST on January 8, approximately 413,639 SCE customers are without power. This includes 183,186 customers affected by PSPS and 230,453 experiencing outages related to the windstorm. Additionally, 453,872 customers remain under a PSPS watch.

Edison International’s shares and bonds fell on Wednesday as a wildfire raged across the Los Angeles region, close to areas served by the company’s utility unit.

The Palisades fire, Pasadena's Eaton fire and the Hurst fire are burning uncontrollably in the greater Los Angeles area, leaving 5 dead and prompting thousands to evacuate.

Key Takeaways Shares of Edison International plunged Wednesday as its Southern California Edison subsidiary was forced to shut off power to thousands of customers because of the Los Angeles-area wildfires.