By Jonathan Stempel
(Reuters) – An Oregon jury on Wednesday said PacifiCorp, an electric utility owned by billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc, must pay punitive damages for four of the wildfires that devastated the state in 2020.
The verdict could result in PacifiCorp being on the hook for billions of dollars of damages to approximately 5,000 plaintiffs who said the fires damaged more than 2,400 properties.
Jurors reached their conclusion two days after finding that PacifiCorp owed more than $70 million of compensatory damages to 17 property owners for its negligence.
PacifiCorp did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Portland-based utility has said it would appeal the verdict and damages.
Wildfires throughout Oregon in 2020 burned approximately 1,900 square miles (1.22 million acres), destroying an estimated 5,000 or more structures and killing at least nine people. Property owners accused PacifiCorp of improperly failing to shut down power lines during a Labor Day windstorm, despite warnings of potential hurricane strength gusts, and that some of its lines set off fires.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs said jurors set punitive damages at 25% of compensatory damages, meaning the first 17 plaintiffs would receive at least $87 million. The lawyers expect part of the payout to be doubled under Oregon law.
Damages for the thousands of additional plaintiffs would be determined later.
After years of PacifiCorp refusing to accept responsibility for the fires, “the time for denial and delay is over,” Nick Rosinia, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in a statement.
PacifiCorp had said power shutoffs were not necessary based on what it knew, and the plaintiffs did not prove its equipment was to blame. Acquired for $5.1 billion in 2006, PacifiCorp is owned by Berkshire Hathaway Energy, which is 92% owned by Berkshire Hathaway.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)
