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                                                             EXHIBIT 5.1








                            January 17, 1996 


Southern California Edison Company 
2244 Walnut Grove Avenue 
Rosemead, California  91770 
 
Ladies and Gentlemen: 
 
      This opinion is rendered in connection with the offering and sale of
$200,000,000 aggregate principal amount of 5-7/8% Notes, Due 2001 (the
"Securities") of Southern California Edison Company, a California
corporation (the "Company"), registered under the Securities Act of 1933,
as amended (the "Act"), pursuant to Registration Statement No. 33-59001. 
 
      As Assistant General Counsel of the Company, I have general
responsibility over the attorneys within the Company's Law Department
responsible for rendering legal counsel to the Company regarding
corporate, financial, and securities matters.  I am generally familiar
with the organization, history, and affairs of the Company.  I am also
familiar with the proceedings taken and proposed to be taken by the
Company in connection with the offering and sale of the Securities, and I
have examined such corporate records, certificates, and other documents
and such questions of the law as I have considered necessary or
appropriate for the purposes of this opinion.  In addition, I have
responsibility for supervising lawyers who may have been asked, by me or
others, to review legal matters arising in connection with the offering
and sale of the Securities.    Accordingly, some of the matters referred
to herein have not been handled personally by me, but I have been made
familiar with the facts and circumstances and the applicable law, and the
opinions herein expressed are my own or are opinions of others in which I
concur.

      Based upon the foregoing, I advise you that, in my opinion: 
 
      (1)   The Company has been duly incorporated and is an existing
corporation in good standing under the laws of the State of California. 
 
      (2)   Subject to the continued effectiveness of the appropriate
orders of the Public Utilities Commission of the State of California
authorizing the issuance and sale of the Securities in the manner proposed
by you, when the Securities have been duly executed and authenticated in
accordance with the Indenture, as amended, and the Securities have been
issued and sold as contemplated in the Prospectus and Prospectus
Supplement relating to the Securities, the Securities will constitute
legally valid and binding obligations of the Company.
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Southern California Edison Company
January 17, 1996
Page Two


      I hereby consent to the filing of this opinion with the Securities
and Exchange Commission and to the reference to me under the heading
"Validity of Debt Securities" in the Prospectus.  In giving such consent,
I do not thereby admit that I am in the category of persons whose consent
is required under Section 7 of the Act.

                                    Very truly yours, 


                                    KENNETH S. STEWART
                                    KENNETH S. STEWART
                                    Assistant General Counsel 

KSS/PNG:ad