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On June 10, 2023, a jury in Portland, Oregon found PacifiCorp and Pacific Power (collectively, "PacifiCorp") liable for negligence, trespass, and nuisance based on a series of four wildfires that occurred during Labor Day weekend in 2020. PacifiCorp prevailed against the plaintiffs on the claim of inverse condemnation. With respect to the tort-based claims, the jury awarded approximately $72 million in compensatory damages to 17 plaintiffs. The jury later found PacifiCorp liable for $18 million in punitive damages, or one quarter of the compensatory damages that the jury awarded to the 17 plaintiffs. The jury's liability findings apply to a broader class of owners, whose damages will need to be individually proven in a yet-to-be defined second phase of proceedings. Post-verdict motion practice and appeals may affect the jury's findings.
The underlying cases are consolidated under the lead case, Jeanyne James, et al. v. PacifiCorp, et al., in the Circuit Court of the State of Oregon for the County of Multnomah, Case No. 20-CV-33885. The lawsuits allege that the National Weather Service issued weather warnings in Oregon for September 7, 2020, indicating hot, dry winds from the east would top 75 miles per hour, resulting in extreme fire conditions. The lawsuits further allege that despite this fire risk, PacifiCorp failed to shut off power to customers during a windstorm, and its energized powerlines subsequently fell, igniting surrounding vegetation in communities across...
