Oregon appeals court ruling could cut PacifiCorp wildfire liability by billions

An Oregon appeals court ruling in James v. PacifiCorp could become a template for how utilities fight wildfire class actions across the West, not just a balance-sheet problem for Berkshire Hathaway Energy. By sending the case back for reconsideration, the court opened the door to a narrower damages path that could reduce PacifiCorp’s exposure by more than a billion dollars and reshape settlement leverage for thousands of claims.

The Oregon Court of Appeals issued its decision on April 8 in docket A183140 after the case was argued and submitted on February 4. At issue was whether a trial judge in the 2023 proceedings improperly told jurors they could treat evidence from 17 homeowners as applying to a much larger class of plaintiffs tied to more than 2,000 damaged properties spread across more than a hundred miles.

That matters because the underlying litigation reaches far beyond one jury verdict. The class stems from four fires, the Santiam Canyon Fire, the Echo Mountain Complex Fire, the South Obenchain Fire and the 242 Fire, all tied to the 2020 Labor Day wildfires in Oregon. Those fires killed nine people, burned more than 1,875 square miles and damaged roughly 5,000 homes and other structures.

In the Portland trial on June 10, 2023, jurors found PacifiCorp liable for negligence, trespass and nuisance and awarded about $72 million in compensatory damages to 17 plaintiffs plus $18 million in punitive damages. PacifiCorp prevailed on the inverse condemnation claim. Since then, mini-trials over individual losses have pushed total damages in the broader wildfire litigation past $1 billion, and a narrower liability ruling could force plaintiffs to prove damages and causation again in new proceedings.

For PacifiCorp, the stakes extend well beyond Oregon. Berkshire has estimated the utility’s wildfire exposure could reach tens of billions of dollars, including the $1.1 billion already awarded in completed trials. That exposure hangs over ratepayers, insurers and communities trying to recover after climate-fueled disasters, while also shaping how investors price long-tail risk at Western utilities.

The company said in an April 8 statement that there are no winners in wildfire, that it remains open to resolving reasonable claims and will continue defending against unsupported claims. PacifiCorp also said it has been investing in wildfire mitigation, including situational awareness, protective operational practices, advanced monitoring technologies, vegetation management and system strengthening.

The ruling is not the last word. Plaintiffs can still seek review from Oregon’s top court, and PacifiCorp’s broader wildfire risk remains active after the U.S. Department of Justice said on February 20 that the company agreed to pay $575 million to resolve federal claims over six wildfires in California and Oregon. Even so, the appeals court decision could alter the pace, size and pressure of wildfire litigation far beyond one utility’s courtroom fight.