Jury orders Berkshire’s PacifiCorp to pay at least $29M to Oregon wildfire victims

Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) Pacificorp utility was ordered Tuesday by an Oregon jury to pay at least $29.2M to plaintiffs whose properties were damaged in 2020 wildfires they claimed were caused when the company failed to shut off its power lines during high winds.

The award for actual damages and emotional distress to 10 fire victims follows ~$175M previously ordered for 26 victims.

The latest award will exceed $42M once punitive damages and other post-trial additions are made, according to attorneys who represented the plaintiffs.

Berkshire (BRK.A) (BRK.B) recently disclosed it booked $1.9B in probable losses from wildfires in 2023, and it faces ~$8B in claims in Oregon and California, including demands from state and federal agencies totaling more than $1B for various firefighting and cleanup costs.

In his annual letter to shareholders, Warren Buffett called Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BRK.A) (BRK.B), which includes PacifiCorp, a “severe earnings disappointment,” and “it will be many years until we know the final tally from BHE’s forest fire losses and can intelligently make decisions about the desirability of future investments in vulnerable western states.”