Buffett-owned utility reaches $150 million Oregon wildfire settlement

PacifiCorp wildfire payouts near $1.7 billion

Utility denies negligence in not shutting off power lines

PacifiCorp has warned of potential liquidity strain

By Jonathan Stempel

Nov 19 (Reuters) - PacifiCorp, owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) , said on Wednesday it reached a $150 million settlement with 1,434 plaintiffs who blamed the utility for starting the 2020 Labor Day weekend wildfires in Oregon.

The payout boosts the amount PacifiCorp has agreed to pay wildfire claimants to close to $1.7 billion, including a $125 million settlement last month with 93 Oregon wineries and vineyards.

PacifiCorp has set aside $2.85 billion for litigation over wildfires that burned more than 2,000 structures and 500,000 acres in Oregon and northern California. It still faces tens of billions of dollars of claims.

The Portland, Oregon-based utility has denied victims’ accusations that it was negligent in failing to shut off power lines during a windstorm. Oregon and the U.S. government are also suing PacifiCorp over damage to natural resources.

George McCoy, a lawyer representing plaintiffs, in a press release issued by PacifiCorp called the settlement “reasonable.”

PacifiCorp has faced a series of “mini-trials” in the so-called James litigation, which accounts for most remaining wildfire claims. In a November 3 regulatory filing, PacifiCorp said a Multnomah County, Oregon judge’s recent decision to roughly quadruple the pace of trials “will cause significant financial strain” on liquidity and could threaten the utility’s investment-grade status.

PacifiCorp had no immediate additional comment.

“The vast majority of Oregonians impacted by PacifiCorp’s fires are still waiting for the company to do the right thing,” lead counsel for plaintiffs in the James litigation said in a statement.

PacifiCorp’s immediate parent is Berkshire Hathaway Energy, which is a unit of Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate.