伯克希尔旗下公用事业公司的野火诉讼将提交俄勒冈州最高法院审理 乔纳森·斯坦普尔 11月3日 - 俄勒冈州最高法院将于周二审理一项裁决，该裁决可能使伯克希尔·哈撒韦旗下的太平洋电力公司面临数百亿美元的潜在赔偿，原因是该公司在2020年俄勒冈州四场野火中的责任。
Berkshire-owned utility's wildfire lawsuits head to Oregon Supreme Court By Jonathan Stempel Nov 3 - The Oregon Supreme Court will on Tuesday review a verdict that could expose Berkshire Hathaway's PacifiCorp utility to tens of billions of dollars of potential damages over its role in four Oregon wildfires in 2020.
俄勒冈州居民和企业主寻求推翻州中级上诉法院的一项决定，该决定因陪审团指示存在错误，撤销了对太平洋电力公司判赔的12.5亿美元赔偿金。
Oregon residents and business owners are seeking to reverse a decision by a mid-level state appeals court that wiped out $1.25 billion of awards against PacifiCorp because of an error in how jurors were instructed.
索赔人称，这家总部位于波特兰的公用事业公司的设备，以及其在劳动节周末风暴期间疏忽未切断输电线路，导致桑蒂亚姆峡谷大火、回声山综合大火、南奥本钱大火和242号大火，损毁了2000多处房产。
Claimants said the Portland-based utility's equipment and its negligent failure to shut down power lines during a Labor Day weekend windstorm caused the Santiam Canyon, Echo Mountain Complex, South Obenchain and 242 fires to damage more than 2,000 properties.
太平洋电力公司否认存在疏忽，并称受害人不应集体起诉，因为这些大火相距超过100英里（161公里）。
PacifiCorp has denied negligence, and said victims should not sue as a group because the fires were more than 100 miles (161 km) from each other.
2023年，在诉讼第一阶段，陪审团认定太平洋电力公司对所有四场大火均有过错，此前马尔特诺马县巡回法院法官斯蒂凡·亚历山大指示陪审团，“可以假设庭审证据适用于所有集体成员”。随后，法官监督了一系列“小型审判”，判赔201名原告共计12.5亿美元，其中包括精神损害赔偿。还有1000多名原告等待审判。
In 2023, during the litigation's first phase, jurors found PacifiCorp at fault for all four fires, after Judge Steffan Alexander in the Multnomah County Circuit Court instructed them that they "may assume that the evidence at trial applies to all class members." The judge later oversaw a series of "mini-trials" awarding 201 plaintiffs the $1.25 billion, including for emotional distress. More than 1,000 additional plaintiffs still await trial.
但今年4月8日，俄勒冈州上诉法院撤销了陪审团的责任裁决和判决，称大量证据涉及“针对特定野火的特定问题”以及最大火灾桑蒂亚姆峡谷大火内部的多个起火点。该法院还建议亚历山大重新考虑集体诉讼认证，实际上将诉讼推回了起点。
But on April 8, the Oregon Court of Appeals set aside the jury's liability verdict and the judgments, saying much of the evidence concerned "particular issues concerning particular wildfires" and ignitions within the largest fire, Santiam Canyon. It also suggested that Alexander reconsider class certification, effectively returning the litigation to square one.
集体诉讼可让原告以较低成本获得更高赔偿，而非单独起诉。州最高法院可恢复判决，或支持上诉法院并将案件发回亚历山大法官处。破坏“监管契约”伯克希尔哈撒韦首席执行官格雷格·阿贝尔表示，巨额野火赔偿危及“监管契约”，根据该契约，公用事业公司接受严格的政府监管，作为获准在投入资本上获得合理回报、并增加客户所需基础设施支出的条件。
Class actions can allow greater recoveries at lower cost than if plaintiffs must sue individually. The state Supreme Court could reinstate the judgments, or uphold the court of appeals and return the matter to Alexander. UNDERMINING THE 'REGULATORY COMPACT' Berkshire Chief Executive Greg Abel has said large wildfire payouts endanger the "regulatory compact" under which utilities accept close government oversight, as a condition of being allowed to generate reasonable returns on invested capital and spend more on infrastructure that customers need.
然而，允许公用事业公司向客户收取更多费用，往往会招致不希望费率上涨的监管机构和政客的反对。
Letting utilities charge customers more, however, often draws opposition from regulators and politicians who don't want rates to go up.
在寻求恢复原陪审团裁决的过程中，火灾受害者的律师称，上诉法院错误地聚焦于亚历山大法官陪审团指示中的单个、孤立句子。
In seeking to restore the original jury verdict, lawyers for fire victims said the appeals court was wrong to focus on a single, isolated sentence in Alexander's jury instructions.
律师称，这些火灾共有的证据包括：太平洋电力公司决定在安全上偷工减料，未对输电线路进行绝缘处理，未修剪树木和植被，也没有任何在为时已晚之前主动断电的计划。
The lawyers said evidence common to the fires included PacifiCorp's decision to skimp on safety by failing to insulate power lines, trim trees and vegetation, or have any plan to proactively shut off power before it was too late.
太平洋电力公司反驳称，亚历山大法官的指示忽视了各起火灾之间的“关键差异”，并错误地免除了受害者证明其个人索赔的责任。
PacifiCorp countered that Alexander's instruction ignored "critical differences" among the fires, and wrongly excused victims from having to prove their individual claims.
截至6月30日，太平洋电力公司已与认证集体诉讼之外的野火索赔人达成约23亿美元的和解。
Through June 30, PacifiCorp reached about $2.3 billion of settlements with wildfire claimants outside the certified class.
该公司还于2月同意支付5.75亿美元，以解决美国政府就六起烧毁联邦土地的俄勒冈州和加利福尼亚州野火提出的索赔。
It also agreed in February to pay $575 million to resolve US government claims over six Oregon and California wildfires that burned federal land.
当时由沃伦·巴菲特领导的伯克希尔哈撒韦于2006年以51亿美元收购了太平洋电力公司。
Berkshire, then led by Warren Buffett, bought PacifiCorp for $5.1 billion in 2006.