About Restore Justice
The Restore Justice for Survivors coalition is a diverse group of allies calling on state lawmakers to protect the rights of Oregonians whose lives have been devastated by utility-caused wildfires. Our shared goal: to protect the public interest and ensure that big corporations—not ordinary Oregonians—pay for damages they cause when they start catastrophic wildfires.
The Issue
PacifiCorp, a power company owned by Berkshire Hathway, was found responsible by a Portland jury for recklessly burning down the homes of thousands of Oregonians across the state. Rather than paying for the devastation it caused and changing its practices, PacifiCorp is trying to get a get out of jail free card so that it doesn’t need to worry when it starts more fires in the future.
HB 3917
House Bill 3917, PacifiCorp’s bill, creates a “Catastrophic Wildfire Fund” to pay for property damage claims when a catastrophic wildfire is started by a public utility’s facilities. On its face, that might sound like a safety net for consumers.
But a closer look reveals that HB 3917 is really a way for big power companies to get off the hook, scot-free, for negligently or recklessly starting devastating wildfires. Worse, there is serious worry that future amendments to HB 3917 could attempt to cover past wildfires, including the devastating 2020 Labor Day fires.
Who is affected
- Survivors of past and future wildfires, whose rights are threatened
- Taxpayers and ratepayers, who will foot the bill for the negligence of power companies
- Rural communities, whose towns are more likely to be burned by utility-caused wildfires if power companies like PacifiCorp don’t have to foot the bill of fires they start
Why we oppose
- Survivors of utility-caused wildfires deserve full compensation
- Big corporations should have to pay for the damages they cause
- Taxpayers and ratepayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill when power companies start catastrophic fires