Warren Buffett’s PacifiCorp Sued by Oregon Wineries Over Fire Damage

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s PacifiCorp was sued by Oregon wineries claiming that smoke from wildfires ignited by the utility’s equipment in 2020 destroyed their grape harvests, resulting in tens of millions of dollars in damages and lost wine sales.

The lawsuits filed Friday in state courts come after the largest electric grid operator in the western US was found negligent last month in an unprecedented jury trial for not preventing the destruction of about 2,500 properties in four fires on Labor Day 2020. PacifiCorp has projected that the case could end up costing it $11 billion but has said it’s confident the verdict will be overturned on appeal.

A PacifiCorp spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The complaints were filed in three counties in the Willamette Valley region, the heart of Oregon wine country. The wineries include Brigadoon Vineyards, Retraite, Samuel Robert and Elk Cove.

The wineries say the fires damaged grapes, harvests and wine sales, and caused them to lose revenue and profit in succeeding years.

“The fires each produced smoke and soot particles that inundated the Willamette Valley where plaintiff’s property is located for more than two weeks,” according to Brigadoon’s complaint. The particles “landed on and infused the grapes” being grown for the 2020 harvest and wine vintages, the winery said.

The fires could have been prevented if PacifiCorp “had turned off the power in the service area adjacent to the Willamette Valley as requested by the state officials,” Brigadoon alleged.

The company argued at its trial that the litigation was filed in hindsight and that it’s overly simplistic to blame the utility’s decision-making amid the complexities of climate change. It also contended there wasn’t enough evidence linking its equipment to the fires.

PG&E Corp. faced extensive litigation over fires in 2017 that raged through California’s wine region north of San Francisco. The company was driven into bankruptcy in 2019 and agreed to pay $25.5 billion to settle damage claims from a series of deadly blazes blamed on its equipment.

The case is Brigadoon Vineyards LLC v. PacifiCorp, 23CV28149, Oregon Circuit Court, Lane County.