The FINAL VERDICT in the PacifiCorp trial
is now posted on our DOCUMENTS page.
The jury in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland found PacifiCorp liable for four of the devastating Labor Day 2020 fires that burned about 2,500 properties in western Oregon. The 12-person jury, according to a report by the Statesman Journal, determined that PacifiCorp (Pacific Power) was negligent for causing the Santiam, Echo Mountain, South Obenchain, and 242 fires after a 7-week class action trial. Pacific Power is Oregon’s second-largest utility.
The jury found that PacifiCorp was negligent to an entire class in the Santiam Canyon, Lincoln City, and southern Oregon areas. Lawyers argued that PacifiCorp’s power lines ignited numerous wildfires that burned thousands of homes during an extreme high wind event on Labor Day night of 2020.
“The trial revealed that PacifiCorp tried to cover up and destroy evidence of powerline-ignited fires in the Santiam Canyon,” said Sam Drevo, one of the plaintiffs, “including electrical fires in firefighter camps in Gates and Mill City, overwhelming firefighters, causing chaos and more loss.”
“I was shocked by how little the company’s top people claimed to remember,” Drevo said, “how they tried to pass the buck, and by how much evidence they admittedly destroyed after knowing their equipment started fires. They took zero responsibility, and they said they would do ‘nothing differently’ next time.”
Drevo said the Santiam Canyon will never be the same. “But I hope this verdict will help in the long-term healing and recovery of what took many lifetimes to build. I ask the State Fire Marshal and State Police to look into whether criminal charges are warranted for the destruction of evidence.”
OPB reported that jurors returned a nearly unanimous verdict today. After less than two days of deliberations, jurors found the company owes more than $71 million to the 17 plaintiffs in the case for losses related to the fires and emotional suffering. The jury also applied its liability finding to a larger class, including the owners of nearly 2,500 properties damaged in the fires, according to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle. That determination could push the cost for damages to more than $1 billion.
The jury said PacifiCorp was at fault because the utility did not proactively shut down power, though several other utilities did, in the face of fire weather warnings, predicted high winds, and many reports and calls about arcing power lines and burning trees on power lines. The utility also failed to clear or maintain trees and other vegetation that its employees knew was a fire hazard.
PacificCorp argued that there was limited evidence its power lines caused the fires in question, but attorneys for the plaintiffs demonstrated that PacifiCorp employees in many cases had destroyed or hidden evidence, and utility employees had repeatedly trespassed onto the fire area — still under investigation — to remove or repair equipment despite repeated orders by the IC and other fire managers to stay clear of the closed area.
Ralph Bloemers, the director of Fire Safe Communities at Green Oregon, was among the first to report and document electrical fires in the Santiam Canyon in testimony to the Oregon Senate. He said fires driven by east winds in western Oregon are nothing new. These fires are a clear sign, though, that Oregon utilities need to prepare for wildfires in all areas of Oregon — whether a high or low fire frequency landscape, heavily populated or not.
“Western Oregon has a long history of wind-driven fire events, and these east wind fires can be very big, covering vast areas, burning where we haven’t seen fires in our lifetimes,” Bloemers said. “But big fires are part of these landscapes, and are now being amplified by extended drought and increased wind as the climate changes.”
Here is a youtube clip from Elemental: Reimagine Wildfire — which begins streaming tomorrow.
The Labor Day fires of 2020 burned more of the Oregon Cascades than had burned in the previous 36 years combined.
Because the jury found PacifiCorp negligent to entire classes, a second phase of the trial will allow people affected by the fires to claim damages, even if they were not involved as plaintiffs in this first phase.
OPB reported that Bob Jenks with the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board, which represents the interests of ratepayers, said the utility could not reasonably pass on the costs from Monday’s verdict to its customers because the jury found the company was grossly negligent. He said it may be possible that customers will have to pay more in the future if PacifiCorp decides to spend more money on tree trimming and other wildfire mitigation efforts.
Still, he said, the verdict was a clear message.
“To me, this was a pretty harsh verdict against PacifiCorp,” Jenks said. “It’s clearly sending the message to companies that you can be held liable.”
Investigators have still not, more than two years later, completed final investigations into the causes of those historic 2020 fires.
The one you linked to above –
https://allongeorgia.com/georgia-state-news/americans-spent-over-22-billion-more-on-electricity-the-past-year-georgia-in-top-5-for-most-expensive-states/
The point of my comment was that any western state that has wildfires caused by utility companies will necessarily see hefty rate increases, regardless of what a state’s public utility commission might say. The only alternative to rate increases is for a state to take over those utility companies that have a history of starting fires, and that’s not going to happen. It’s too convenient to blame a corporation for starting fires rather than the state being responsible and getting the blame.
So, a state’s choice is to either bail out the companies starting the fires or allow them to raise their rates.
Kelly Andersson-
The article about Georgia uses ancient data. According to their chart California rates were ranked #2 in the country behind Hawaii at 25.58¢ per KwH in 2022. My current PG&E Tier 1 rate, the lowest residential rate, is 34.05¢ per KwH, with my Tier 2 rate approaching what Hawaii’s 40.47¢ rate is when my allowed baseline usage is exceeded.
Keep in mind, PG&E has already been granted biennial rate increases over the next two years. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Tier 1 rate in 2025 exceeds 50¢ per KwH.
Someone has to pay for those lawsuits and settlements, and it sure isn’t going to be the shareholders or executives of the company. Oregon residents will probably be figuring this out over the next few years.
If you really want to read a PG&E horror story read the Wikipedia page of Geisha Williams. She was the company’s CEO when the Camp Fire wiped out Paradise. She was also feted as being “the first Latina CEO of a Fortune 500 company” before she left in 2019 with her $2.6 million severance package shortly before the company declared bankruptcy.
Which article about Georgia are you referring to?
Big penalty.. but will it improve their maintenance program
I agree. For those living in the western US, it’s likely we need to become accustomed to rolling power blackouts, if that is what it takes to reduce the damage from wildfires.
The jury found Pacificorp grossly negligent and OPB reports that ratepayers cannot be asked to pay this amount.
Also Pacificorp paid over 3 billion in dividends prior to 2020. They have ample funds.
maybe it’s time for our power companies to be regulated by an outside entity and be directed to deenergize, not real sure what that would look like. ie. in areas where they experience Red Flad warnings, they would have to deenergize for the duration of the RF event in those fire prone areas. and maybe the insurance companies could be lobbied to purchase home generator’s, it’s time to have some real constructive discussions regarding this topic, this is not a one off, this problem is here to stay…..no body wants to lose there power for even one hour let alone multiple days……we need our comforts without interruption…..
This WFT article is well done, I enjoyed it very much. Very informative…thank you……
@Charles Butts, you are not wrong in recognizing that current customers of PacifiCorp will pay the price of this verdict via increased costs for electricity in their service areas.
OTOH, residential ratepayers in the Pacific Northwest have enjoyed for decades below-average electricity rates (due in part to cheap hydroelectric power).
https://allongeorgia.com/georgia-state-news/americans-spent-over-22-billion-more-on-electricity-the-past-year-georgia-in-top-5-for-most-expensive-states/
Oh boy that will teach them! But who ultimately pays the fine — those who buy the electracy from PacifiCorp.
ACTUALLY, Charles, the utility may not be able to pass the costs of this lawsuit on to ratepayers:
https://www.opb.org/article/2023/06/12/oregon-wildfire-verdict-pacificorp-labor-day/
The Oregon Public Utility Commission, which oversees and approves rate increases in the state, said in some cases, utilities can request rate hikes beyond what has been approved so they can recover costs from “unexpected, extraordinary events.”
“We have no information about whether or when PacifiCorp may decide to file with the PUC to recover any costs associated with this litigation through customer rates,” agency spokesperson Kandi Young said in an email. “The PUC would scrutinize any such request in an open public process.”
Bob Jenks with the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board, which represents the interests of ratepayers, said the utility could not reasonably pass on the costs from Monday’s verdict to its customers because the jury found the company was grossly negligent. He said it may be possible that customers will have to pay more in the future if PacifiCorp decides to spend more money on tree trimming and other wildfire mitigation efforts.
Still, he said, the verdict was a clear message.
“To me, this was a pretty harsh verdict against PacifiCorp,” Jenks said. “It’s clearly sending the message to companies that you can be held liable.”
This is an appropriate verdict, considering the circumstances in Oregon in 2020.