PacifiCorp agreed to a $575 million settlement with the United States over six wildfires that burned federal land in California and Oregon, resolving government claims tied to the company’s electrical lines and directing funds toward firefighting costs and land restoration.
PacifiCorp, an Oregon-based utility, will pay $575 million to resolve the United States’ claims that its electrical lines negligently started six fires across California and Oregon. The agreement settles alleged liability for multiple large blazes and shifts money where federal officials say it’s needed most: fighting fires and repairing burned public land. The deal follows years of costly wildfire seasons and legal scrutiny of utilities’ infrastructure and vegetation management. For taxpayers and agencies stretched thin by suppression expenses, the settlement represents a sizeable recovery.
Federal officials emphasized that the payment will help repay significant costs the government incurred while fighting those fires, a major strain on agency budgets. The U.S. Forest Service now spends more than half of its annual budget on wildfire suppression, which squeezes funds for other missions and restoration work. Under the terms announced, settlement funds will be allocated to restore roughly 290,000 acres of public land damaged by the fires. That restoration money is intended for both the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to repair landscapes and infrastructure.
Two of the fires in question burned in California. The Slater Fire began on Sept. 8, 2020, on Slater Butte National Forest lands within the Klamath National Forest and ultimately burned 157,229 acres of federal land across the Klamath, Six River, and Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forests. The McKinney Fire started on July 29, 2022, on land adjacent to the Klamath National Forest and consumed about 39,000 acres of federal land before it was contained.
Four fires in Oregon were also resolved by the agreement. The 242 Fire ignited near Chiloquin on Sept. 7, 2020, and burned 8,916 acres of federal land. The Archie Creek Fire began on Sept. 8, 2020, near French Creek in the Umpqua National Forest and torched roughly 67,000 acres of federal land. The Echo Mountain Complex Fire started on Sept. 7, 2020, near Otis, Oregon, burning approximately 2,500 acres that included federal parcels. The South Obenchain Fire began on Sept. 8, 2020, east of Eagle Point and burned about 14,780 acres of federal land.
“The United States and PacifiCorp have reached a settlement that ensures fair compensation to the American taxpayer for fire-related damages,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “This agreement strikes a balance by addressing the government’s significant fire-suppression costs and loss of natural resources without preventing PacifiCorp from offering electricity at fair prices.” The Justice Department framed the deal as a measured outcome that allows recovery of costs while keeping utility service viable.
The settlement followed coordinated work by federal prosecutors and land-management agencies. The U.S. Attorney’s Offices for Oregon and for the Eastern District of California joined with the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of the Interior in pursuing the claims and negotiating the resolution. That interagency effort reflects an ongoing trend of federal entities asserting claims when fires damage public lands and require extensive suppression resources. Officials said this case underscores how wildfire liability and recovery can involve multiple agencies across state lines.
“This settlement served the Department’s longstanding policy of holding individuals and corporations responsible for damages caused by wildfires. Every fire impacting federal lands, no matter the size, is a priority,” said U.S. Attorney Eric Grant of the Eastern District of California. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tara Amin and Kelli L. Taylor for the Eastern District of California and Alexis Lien for the District of Oregon handled the cases for the U.S. Attorney’s Offices, representing the government in the negotiations and filings that led to the agreement.
“Wildfires remain a recurring threat to our natural resources, the safety of our communities, and their economic well-being. The costs of land losses and fire responses are substantial,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon Scott E. Bradford. “Recouping the costs associated with these wildfires is a priority for our office, and this settlement achieves that.” Officials stressed that recovering suppression and restoration costs helps protect public resources and reduces the fiscal burden on federal land managers.
The settlement resolves allegations only and does not represent a judicial finding of liability, and PacifiCorp continues to deny responsibility for the fires. While the company agreed to the payment to resolve the government’s claims, the legal posture remains that the claims were allegations and no court determination of fault was reached. For communities and agencies facing the aftermath of large wildfires, the funds are intended to support rebuilding, mitigation, and ecological recovery rather than to assign new operational mandates to the utility.
