Southern California Edison Company                            Kenneth S. Stewart
P.O. Box 800
2244 Walnut Grove Avenue
Rosemead, California 91770

                                                                       EXHIBIT 5

                                January 19, 2000


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
$250,000,000   aggregate  principal  amount  of  7-5/8%  Notes,  Due  2010  (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. 333-497.

         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, when the Securities have been duly executed
and authenticated in accordance with the related  Indenture,  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.





Southern California Edison Company
January 19, 2000
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 and "Validity of the Notes" in the Prospectus
Supplement.  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