PORTLAND, Ore. — A significant legal victory for utility company PacifiCorp could put more than $1 billion in wildfire victim compensation in jeopardy following a Wednesday decision by Oregon’s appeals court.
The three-judge panel at the Oregon Court of Appeals overturned a lower court’s verdict and ordered a new examination of the class-action lawsuit, citing problems with how the jury was instructed during a 2023 trial. That original trial had found PacifiCorp responsible for negligent conduct when it failed to shut off electrical power despite fire safety warnings from senior officials, resulting in punitive damages awarded to affected property owners.
Following that initial verdict, additional juries have mandated that PacifiCorp pay more than $1 billion in compensation to a class representing thousands of wildfire victims.
The appellate court determined that the trial judge made an error by telling jurors they could apply evidence from four separate wildfire incidents to every member of the plaintiff class.
“We conclude that … that instruction was legally erroneous, because certain evidence at trial, particularly related to causation, did not necessarily apply to every class member,” the judges wrote. “We further conclude that giving the instruction was prejudicial to PacifiCorp. Consequently, we reverse and remand.”
The court emphasized that class members owned more than 2,000 different properties affected by various fires, with some locations “separated by well over a hundred miles.” The disasters encompassed the Santiam Canyon blaze in northwestern Oregon, the Echo Mountain Complex fire along the coastline, and the South Obenchain and 242 fires in the state’s southwestern region.
Oregon’s Labor Day weekend fires in 2020 rank among the state’s most catastrophic natural disasters on record. The blazes claimed 11 lives, consumed over 1,560 square miles of land, and eliminated thousands of residential structures.
Questions remain about the lawsuit’s future direction and whether plaintiff attorneys will challenge the appellate decision before Oregon’s highest court. More than 1,000 class members have trials scheduled for 2026 and 2027.
“There are no winners in wildfire; however, the Court’s decision supports PacifiCorp’s longstanding belief that this process was prejudicial and not appropriate for managing wildfire litigation,” the utility said in a statement. “The company remains open to resolving reasonable claims and will continue to defend against unsupported claims.”
Legal representatives for the plaintiffs characterized the decision as a “procedural setback” while asserting that “nothing in this ruling suggests the jury got it wrong.”
“In fact, the Court rejected PacifiCorp’s efforts to win this appeal on the merits. Instead, what the court addressed was a single jury instruction, charting several paths forward — including fixing that instruction and trying the case again.”
In related developments, PacifiCorp has committed to paying more than $2 billion in settlements for various lawsuits connected to the 2020 fires, including $575 million to federal authorities for wildfire damage on government property in Oregon and California.
This past February, PacifiCorp revealed intentions to sell its wind energy, natural gas production, and distribution infrastructure in Washington state to Portland General Electric Company for $1.9 billion as part of efforts to strengthen its financial position. Despite challenging wildfire verdicts through appeals, PacifiCorp has been required to secure court bonds, creating pressure on the company’s available cash resources.
