Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza: The total number of Palestinians killed due to famine and malnutrition has risen to 313, including 119 children
Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip: 10 people, including two children, have died of starvation in the past 24 hours
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon: US envoy Tom Barrack cancels his visit to Tyre and al-Khiam amid popular protests
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Lebanon: Israeli occupation forces carried out an explosion in the southern border town of Kfar Kila
Russian Ministry of Defense: 37 Ukrainian drones destroyed in 4 hours over regions of Russia and the Black Sea.
Sheikh Qassem: Our supporters make up more than half of Lebanon's population, and all of these people are united under the banner of protecting Lebanon, its Resistance, its people, and its integrity.
Sheikh Qassem: There will be no phased handing in of our arms. [The Israelis] must first enact the agreement before we start talking about a defensive strategy.
Sheikh Qassem: Be brave in the face of foreign pressures, and we will be by your side in this stance.
Sheikh Qassem: Stripping us of our arms is like stripping us of our very soul, and this will prompt us to show them our might.
Sheikh Qassem: We will not abandon our arms, for they gave us dignity; we will not abandon our arms, for they protect us against our enemy.

US gov. threatens PacifiCorp with nearly $1 billion lawsuit

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 27 Feb 2024 17:23
  • 1 Shares
3 Min Read

Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway Energy, which is PacifiCorp's parent company, reveals that the US Justice Department is asking for $625 million in firefighting and cleanup costs regarding 2020 fires in Oregon.

  • x
  • The logo for Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is displayed at a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023.(AP)
    The logo for Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is displayed at a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP)

PacifiCorp, a unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, is attempting to negotiate a settlement with the US government, as the latter is threatening to sue the company to redeem nearly $1 billion in costs related to the 2020 wildfires in southern Oregon and northern California.

The potential lawsuits were revealed in an annual report filed by PacifiCorp’s Iowa-based parent company, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, yesterday, two days after Buffett expressed disappointment in the results at the conglomerate's utility division in his annual letter to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway. This new liability emerged after the utility already accepted to compensate with hundreds of millions of dollars in lawsuits related to the fires.

A deeper dive into the lawsuits against PacifiCorp

In its annual report, Berkshire Hathaway Energy stated that the US Justice Department informed the company it is asking for $625 million in firefighting and cleanup costs in regards to the September 2020 Archie Creek and Susan Creek fires. However, Oregon’s Justice Department revealed that it is also requesting $109 million in damages related to those fires.

Moreover, the US Forest Service has called on PacfiCorp to pay $356 million for firefighting costs and damages regarding the Slater Fire that started in California, moving across the border into Oregon. 

Related News

Police apologize for misclassifying Portland BLM volunteers as 'armed'

20% of Americans agree with Greene's 'national divorce' between states

In Oregon's entire history of natural disasters, these fires constitute some of the most horrible, as nine people were killed, more than 1,875 square miles (4,856 square kilometers) were burned, and more than 5,000 homes and other structures were demolished.

The Oregon lawsuits' argument is based on PacifiCorp's negligence, alleging PacifiCorp had failed to cut off power to its 600,000 customers during a windstorm over Labor Day weekend in 2020, despite warnings from state leaders and top fire officials. This resulted in its power lines causing multiple fires.

Representatives of PacifiCorp and Berkshire Hathaway Energy refused to comment about the new liabilities, while the Justice Department did not immediately answer a request for comment regarding the potential lawsuits. 

Buffet is worried about the fate of similar capitalist companies

The Omaha-Nebraska-based Berkshire predicts that its utilities will be confronted by at least $8 billion in claims over all the wildfire lawsuits already filed in Oregon and California, with the damages possibly doubled or even tripled in some of those cases as some of the lawsuits do not even indicate a dollar amount.

Utilities like PacifiCorp are in turn struggling with concluding whether it is feasible or not to invest in major new power plants and transmission lines due to these costs, and the ambiguous regulatory environment in western states where wildfires have become more dominant.

Buffet stated in his letter “It will be many years until we know the final tally from BHE’s (Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s) forest-fire losses and can intelligently make decisions about the desirability of future investments in vulnerable western states,” adding, “It remains to be seen whether the regulatory environment will change elsewhere.”

Buffett also added that in severe cases like with Pacific Gas and Electric in California or Hawaiian Electric, utilities could undergo bankruptcy and the country may have to determine whether to head toward public power if private investors no longer accept taking risks related to the utility business.

  • Oregon
  • Susan Creek Fire
  • Berkshire Hathaway Energy
  • PacifiCorp
  • Warren Buffett
  • wildfires

Most Read

Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025
Israeli soldiers stand on the top of armoured vehicles parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 (AP)

Palestinian fighters target Israeli soldiers, vehicles in Gaza

  • Politics
  • 21 Aug 2025
Launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen toward the occupied Palestinian territories. (YAF military media)

Yemeni Forces announce firing hypersonic missile at Al-Lydd Airport

  • Politics
  • 22 Aug 2025
The ‘Arab Façade’ for Israeli occupation in Gaza

The ‘Arab Façade’ for Israeli occupation in Gaza

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
A scene showing an al-Qassam Brigades fighter during an ambush on July 7, 2025, in a video released by the al-Qassam Brigades on August 26, 2025 (al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)
Politics

Al-Qassam reveals Beit Hanoun ambush targeting Israeli forces

A Palestinian youth stands on a hill overlooking IsraelI Ofer Prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP)
Politics

77 Palestinian prisoners killed in Israeli prisons since October 7

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during a joint press conference with US deputy special envoy for Middle East peace Morgan Ortagus at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, Tuesday, August 26, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US envoy Barrack calls Lebanese journalists 'animalistic"'

Tom Barrack's imperial tantrum in Beirut: When entitlement speaks (Photo by Mahdi Rtail)
Politics

Tom Barrack's imperial tantrum in Beirut: When entitlement speaks

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS