Jury finds electric utility PacifiCorp liable in devastating Oregon wildfires; company to appeal

By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A jury in Oregon has found electric utility PacifiCorp responsible for causing devastating fires during Labor Day 2020 in a civil lawsuit. The jury awarded millions of dollars each to 17 homeowners who sued PacifiCorp a month after the fires, with most receiving $4.5 million and others $3 million for emotional distress. The jury also applied its liability finding to a larger class including the owners of nearly 2,500 properties damaged in the fires, which could push the price tag over $1 billion. Those damages will be determined later. PacifiCorp said it will appeal. The Portland utility is one of several owned by billionaire Warren Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based investment conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway.