PacifiCorp to pay $575M to resolve federal government's claims over wildfires in Oregon, California

Audio By Carbonatix

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — PacifiCorp has agreed to pay $575 million to resolve the federal government's claims for damages stemming from six wildfires in Oregon and California in 2020 and 2022, federal officials announced Friday, in the utility's latest multimillion-dollar payout related to the deadly blazes.

The settlement resolves the federal government's claims that PacifiCorp's electrical lines negligently started four fires in Oregon in 2020 and two fires in California in 2020 and 2022, the Justice Department said. The money will help restore some of the 290,000 acres (117,359 hectares) of public land that burned. It will also help repay the government for the cost of fighting the fires, which the department said was “critical because the U.S. Forest Service now spends more than half of its budget on wildfire suppression annually."

“This settlement served the Department’s longstanding policy of holding individuals and corporations responsible for damages caused by wildfires. Every fire impacting federal lands, no matter the size, is a priority,” U.S. Attorney Eric Grant of the Eastern District of California said in a statement.

PacifiCorp said the settlement demonstrates its ongoing commitment to resolve claims related to the fires. It has so far settled claims totaling over $2 billion, according to its statement.

The utility has faced a series of lawsuits over the 2020 blazes in Oregon. In other cases that have gone to trial in the state, juries in multiple verdicts have ordered PacifiCorp to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to victims.

In 2023, an Oregon jury found PacifiCorp liable for negligently failing to cut power to its 600,000 customers despite warnings from top fire officials. The jury determined it acted negligently and willfully and should have to pay punitive and other damages — a decision that applied to a class of property owners. More than a thousand class members have cases set for trial in 2026 and 2027.

PacifiCorp’s appeal of the case is still making its way through state court.

The 2020 Labor Day weekend fires were among the worst natural disasters in Oregon’s history. They killed 11 people, burned more than a million acres (404,686 hectares) and destroyed thousands of homes.

In California, the 2020 Slater Fire and 2022 McKinney Fire also claimed several lives.

Earlier this week, PacifiCorp announced that it will sell its wind, natural gas generation and distribution assets and infrastructure in the state of Washington to Portland General Electric Company for $1.9 billion to help stabilize its finances. Even though it is appealing wildfire judgments against it, PacifiCorp has had to post bonds with the court, which has put a crunch on its cash flow.

Darin Carroll, PacifiCorp’s CEO, said Tuesday the move would “improve the company’s financial stability while simplifying our operations” and help ensure reliable service for customers in Washington.

The utility’s parent company, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, is sitting on more than $382 billion cash, but the conglomerate expects PacifiCorp to take care if its own obligations. The executive who led Berkshire’s utility unit for years, Greg Abel, is now Berkshire’s CEO.

__

Associated Press writer Josh Funk contributed from Omaha, Nebraska.