The jury on Monday awarded more than $70 million to 17 homeowners named as plaintiffs in the case, with damages to be determined later for a broader class that could include the owners of about 2,500 properties, as estimated by plaintiffs' attorneys.
The property owners alleged that PacifiCorp negligently failed to shut off power to its 600,000 customers during a windstorm over Labor Day weekend, despite warnings from then-Gov. Kate Brown's chief of staff and top fire officials, and that its power lines were responsible for multiple blazes.
PacifiCorp, owned by billionaire Warren Buffett's Omaha, Nebraska-based investment conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, said it plans to appeal. The jury determined the amount should be one-quarter of whatever is eventually awarded for property damage and emotional distress - meaning the punitive damages could reach hundreds of millions of dollars or more.
Doug Dixon, an attorney for the power company, told the jury Tuesday that punitive damages were unwarranted, saying that PacifiCorp "was not indifferent to the threat of wildfire risk, let alone outrageously or consciously so."
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