Bill that could have offered utilities protection from fire lawsuits gets fix

Yahoo

19-03-2025

Oregon is one of several western states where lawmakers are considering bills that could protect utilties from some financial liabilities if their equipment starts a fire. (Photo by Robert Zullo/States Newsroom)
Oregon lawmakers on Tuesday tweaked a bill intended to increase fire mitigation to ensure it does not also offer utilities immunity from liability in lawsuits for wildfires ignited by power lines.
The change to a single sentence in House Bill 3666 comes as a relief to some critics, who feared that giving utilities wildfire safety certificates that establish they've 'acted reasonably' by state standards would in effect offer them absolute immunity from liability in lawsuits if their equipment causes a wildfire.
Others, including the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association and a representative from the timber industry are still concerned that courts could place weight on certificates when deciding liability and that it does little to give the Public Utility Commission the power it needs to enforce wildfire prevention standards and audit utilities' work.
Rep. Pam Marsh, D-Ashland, and the bill's author introduced the amendment Tuesday in the House Committee on Judiciary. It changes a single sentence in the original version.
The bill previously stated that a wildfire safety certificate was good for 12 months from the date of issuance by the commission, and that it 'establishes that an applicant is acting reasonably with regard to wildfire safety practices and materially consistent with the applicant's wildfire protection plan or wildfire mitigation plan.'
Lawyers feared this would allow utilities to argue they had 'acted reasonably' even if they were responsible for starting catastrophic fires like those in 2020 that killed 11 people and destroyed 4,000 homes. In 2023, a Multnomah County jury found PacificCorp, owner of Pacific Power, guilty of being reckless and negligent in a class action lawsuit over the 2020 Labor Day fires and awarded plaintiffs hundreds of millions of dollars. To date, according to the company's website, it's agreed or been ordered to pay more than $1 billion to residents and companies affected by the fires.
The amendment clarifies that a certificate merely establishes that an applicant implemented wildfire policies and practices 'consistent with the commission's wildfire safety standards on the date the certification is issued.'
Marsh told lawmakers at the public hearing for the bill that it was not her or her collaborators' intention to provide immunity for utilities in the event their equipment starts a fire, and that legislative attorneys had assured her it would not be used as such.
'Nonetheless, we know that not all attorneys who have reviewed the bill agree with that interpretation, and we really want this work to move forward without dispute,' she said.
If passed, House Bill 3666 would direct the Oregon Public Utility Commission to establish minimum wildfire prevention standards for electric utilities in exchange for an annual certificate.
Marsh said the bill's goal is to set a high standard for utilities for wildfire mitigation work and keep communities safe.
Keith Brooks, general manager of Douglas Electric Cooperative, said he needs such standards to ensure he makes the right investments in wildfire mitigation
Otherwise, Brooks said rates will continue to rise. Without state standards, 'electric cooperatives can never do enough mitigation work,' he said.
'Without some sort of certification process, I'm telling you as a utility manager, that will drive prices so high that people will not be able to afford to live in the communities that we're all trying to protect,' Brooks said. 'That's not wildfire prevention, that's economic displacement.'
Representatives for Portland General Electric and the Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association also testified in support of the bill and the amendment.
Sam Drevo, a survivor of the 2020 Labor Day fires in the Santiam Canyon, said the amendment was a big improvement on the original bill, which he saw as giving PacifiCorp protection despite having caused the largest, most expensive fires in state history.
But, he said, the bill and Oregon lawmakers should focus on giving the Public Utility Commission the regulatory teeth and resources it needs to hold utilities accountable for preventing wildfires. He said the commission has little to show for itself in that regard.
'I've had to wonder why there's no official investigation from the state of Oregon, why there's no report from the state of Oregon on what happened,' he told lawmakers. 'We're entering the fifth year since the (2020 Labor Day) fires, and there's still no report.'
The Oregon Trial Lawyers Association is also concerned about the commission's ability to enforce wildfire prevention regulations and audit utilities. They've testified as neutral on the bill with the amendment and are opposed to the bill without the amendment.
'If the goal is safety, this bill won't accomplish it,' Cody Berne, a governor at large for the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association and an attorney at Portland-based law firm Stoll Berne, told the Capital Chronicle. Berne is representing survivors of the 2020 Labor Day fires.
'It recycles fire safety rules that are already in place,' Berne said. 'There are no resources to investigate and make sure that investor-owned power companies are following the rules. The bill just gives the appearance of safety.'
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