PacifiCorp to Pay $575M in Wildfire Damages

- This settlement covers six specific fires: the 242, Archie Creek, Echo Mountain Complex, and South Obenchain fires in Oregon, all of which started around Labor Day 2020, as well as the Slater Fire (2020) and McKinney Fire (2022) in Northern California. - The federal government alleged that PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, acted negligently by allowing its electrical equipment to start the fires. While PacifiCorp agreed to the settlement, it did not admit liability. - The fires burned nearly 290,000 acres of federal land, and the settlement money is designated to help repay the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management for firefighting costs and to begin restoration of the burned areas. The U.S. Forest Service now spends more than half of its annual budget on wildfire suppression. - This $575 million payment is part of a much larger financial strain on the utility. PacifiCorp has agreed to pay over $2.2 billion in total to resolve wildfire claims from various parties, including private homeowners and businesses. - The utility still faces significant financial exposure, with some reports in late 2025 indicating it faced $55 billion in claims related to fires that burned over 500,000 acres and destroyed more than 2,000 structures. - In a separate but related case, an Oregon jury in 2023 found PacifiCorp liable for failing to shut off power to 600,000 customers during a windstorm despite warnings from fire officials, a decision that applied to a large class of property owners. - To improve its financial stability amidst the mounting legal costs, PacifiCorp recently sold assets in Washington to Portland General Electric for $1.9 billion. - Beyond property damage, the utility also settled with dozens of Oregon wineries and vineyards for $125 million to cover damages from wildfire smoke that tainted grapes and made wine unsellable.