Pacific Power Attempts to Open the Door to Charge Customers for Wildfire Damages
Posted on June 20, 2023 by Charlotte Shuff and Bob Jenks
Tags, Energy, General Interest
Pacific Power is attempting to open the door to pass off more than $90 million to customers after being found liable for the Labor Day Fires. If approved, this could mean the very communities affected by the wildfires Pacific Power was found responsible for could be charged to cover damages.
Pacific Power Found Responsible for 2020 Wildfires
Earlier this week, jurors in Multnomah County found that Pacific Power’s conduct was reckless, grossly negligent, and to blame for the fires it started in 2020. The jurors ordered the utility to pay more than $90 million in damages, including $70 million to 17 people harmed by the wildfires. Pacific Power told the court that when applied to all the victims of the fires, the cost could be $11 billion.
Read More: Pacific Power Responsible for Wildfire Damages, Not Customers (CUB Blog)
Customers Should Not Be Held Responsible for Wildfire Damages
On Wednesday, June 14, the Courts added punitive damages to Pacific Power’s wildfire liability. The next day, the utility filed a request with regulators to create a pathway that would allow them to pass the more than $90 million in damages onto customers. This filing also opens the door for Pacific Power to charge customers for potentially billions more from an ongoing class action suit against the Company for additional damages from these wildfires.
CUB is already pushing back against Pacific Power’s attempt to create a path for charging customers for the wildfire damages it caused. We will ask the Oregon Public Utility Commission to reject Pacific Power’s filing and prevent the utility from avoiding financial accountability.
“This is outrageous. Customers pay the costs of prudent, reasonable utility operations. The court found that Pacific Power was reckless and grossly negligent, and included punitive damages meant to punish the company, not customers. Customers should not pay a dime of these costs.” - Bob Jenks, CUB Executive Director
Making customers pay protects the company from accountability and penalizes customers, which is not what the court intended.
Pacific Power Attempts to Open the Door to Charge Customers for Wildfire Damages
Pacific Power filed a request with the Oregon Public Utility Commission to track the liability costs related to the court decision. Despite the court finding the utility responsible, Pacific Power claimed in its filing that the costs “resulted from unique and unforeseen circumstances outside the Company’s reasonable control” as justification.
The filing states that the utility is not asking to charge customers now, but wants to preserve its ability to charge customers after the court decision has concluded.
The filing, known as deferred accounting, is a request for approval to track the costs associated with third-party claims due to wildfires in Oregon. Under Oregon utility law, deferred accounts are a way that a utility can track costs today and retroactively add them to rates later.
Approving the filing and tracking these costs still requires that costs be prudent and reasonable. The jury found that Pacific Power’s actions were not prudent and reasonable. They should not be recoverable from customers. The court is trying to hold Pacific Power accountable for its actions related to these wildfires.
Customers Are Already Seeing Bill Impacts From Wildfire Costs
Pacific Power customers already saw rates increase in 2023 from wildfire mitigation efforts.
Residential customers received a large rate increase earlier this year. A major driver of Pacific Power’s rate increase was spending more on wildfire mitigation for Oregon. This includes funding additional vegetation management and hardening the system against wildfires. There will be substantial costs in the future as Pacific Power spends money to reduce wildfire risk.
CUB will continue to advocate for Oregon households and ensure we are only paying for necessary costs that provide protection to our communities. However, these necessary costs do not include paying damages resulting from the 2020 wildfire liability case.
06/21/23 | 3 Comments | Pacific Power Attempts to Open the Door to Charge Customers for Wildfire Damages