About 1,000 victims of Oregon’s 2020 Labor Day fires filed $42.5 billion in new claims against PacifiCorp on April 29, accusing the utility of negligence for refusing to shut down power lines during the windstorm that struck the region.

The next day, the Oregon Public Utility Commission held a hearing on PacifiCorp’s proposal to raise its electricity rates, in large part to cover its wildfire risks.

Among the critics of the rate increase is the Klamath Water Users Association, which has intervened in the rate case to minimize the increase and make sure irrigators aren’t stuck with an unfair burden, said Paul Simmons, executive director.

Pacific Power filed for the Oregon rate increase in February that would result in a 20.7% increase for residential customers starting next Jan. 1. That’s on top of a 12.9% increase imposed last January.

Irrigation customers would see a 21.5% overall increase for 2025 in addition to a 13.3% increase from 2024 and a 5.2% increase from 2023.

Simmons called the rate hike “unprecedented” and “gigantic” and added that even small farms could pay thousands of dollars more on power bills.

“Farmers don’t have the ability to ensure their costs of doing business are covered. … You’re operating on very thin margins, you’re operating in a very competitive market,” Simmons said.

Lawsuit details

The new complaint, filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland, was added to a case in which a jury awarded a $90 million judgment against PacifiCorp in June. A jury also awarded $85 million to different plaintiffs in February and $42 million to a third set in March, the Associated Press reported.

A jury trial is requested in the newest and largest lawsuit, in which each plaintiff seeks $5 million in economic damages and $25 million in non-economic damages. Because of the initial verdict, economic damages can be doubled, and each plaintiff is seeking $7.5 million in punitive damages.

Utility response

A PacifiCorp statement said the company had already settled more than 1,000 claims from the 2020 wildfires, and the newest demand from plaintiffs showed the need for legal reform.

“PacifiCorp’s ability to provide essential services is being threatened by excessive wildfire damages pursued by plaintiff’s attorneys who have a substantial financial stake in these outcomes,” it adds.

PacifiCorp and its subsidiary, Pacific Power, are part of Berkshire Hathaway Energy. In a Feb. 24 letter to shareholders as part of Berkshire Hathaway’s 2023 annual report, billionaire Warren Buffett, chairman of the board, was apologetic about the corporation’s electric utilities.

Operating earnings of $3.9 billion in 2022 dipped to $2.3 billion in 2023.

“It will be many years before we know the final tally from BHE’s forest fire losses and can intelligently make decisions about the desirability of future investments in vulnerable western states,” Buffet wrote.

{p dir=”ltr”}Pacific Power also faces a $28 million lawsuit over smoke damage to wine grapes.

Public hearing details

The Oregon PUC’s public hearing was held via teleconference and about 20 people commented, all against the rate hike.

Common refrains were that residents couldn’t afford higher electricity bills, that Berkshire Hathaway-owned PacifiCorp was making large profits, and that Pacific Power, its subsidiary, was trying to avoid responsibility for wildfires it caused.

Larry Johnson of Madras said he was shocked by the amount of the increases.

“They are shifting all the responsibility to us to pay for their mistakes and I don’t think that’s fair at all,” he said.

Comments on the rate increase can be made until June 14 by email, mail or phone. More information is available at the Oregon PUC website.

About 900 comments, mostly negative, have been received, said an agency spokeswoman.

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