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Contingencies and commitments | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2025
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Contingencies and commitments | Note 22. Contingencies and commitments We are parties in a variety of legal actions that routinely arise out of the normal course of business, including legal actions seeking to establish liability directly through insurance contracts or indirectly through reinsurance contracts issued by Berkshire subsidiaries. Plaintiffs occasionally seek punitive or exemplary damages. We do not believe that such normal and routine litigation will have a material effect on our financial condition or results of operations. PacifiCorp, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company (“BHE”), operates as a regulated electric utility in Utah, Oregon, Wyoming and other Western states. HomeServices of America, Inc. (“HomeServices”) is also a wholly-owned subsidiary of BHE. Certain legal matters related to these entities are described below. PacifiCorp In September 2020, a severe weather event with high winds, low humidity and warm temperatures contributed to several major wildfires, which resulted in real and personal property and natural resource damage, personal injuries, loss of life and widespread power outages in Oregon and Northern California. These wildfires spread across certain parts of PacifiCorp’s service territory and surrounding areas across multiple counties in Oregon and California, including Siskiyou County, California; Jackson County, Oregon; Douglas County, Oregon; Marion County, Oregon; Lincoln County, Oregon; and Klamath County, Oregon, burning over 500,000 acres in aggregate and included the Santiam Canyon, Beachie Creek, South Obenchain, Echo Mountain Complex, 242, Archie Creek, Slater and other fires. The Slater fire occurred in both Oregon and California. Third-party reports for these wildfires (the “2020 Wildfires”) indicate over 2,000 structures destroyed, including residences; several other structures damaged; multiple individuals injured; and several fatalities. A significant number of complaints and demands alleging similar claims have been filed in Oregon and California, including a class action complaint in Oregon associated with the 2020 Wildfires for which certain jury verdicts were issued as described below. The plaintiffs seek damages for economic losses, noneconomic losses, including mental suffering, emotional distress, personal injury and loss of life, as well as punitive damages, other damages and attorneys’ fees. Several insurance carriers have filed subrogation complaints in Oregon and California with allegations similar to those made in the aforementioned complaints. Additionally, PacifiCorp received correspondence from the U.S. and Oregon Departments of Justice regarding the potential recovery of certain costs and damages alleged to have occurred on federal and state lands in connection with certain of the 2020 Wildfires. In December 2024, the United States of America filed a complaint against PacifiCorp in conjunction with the correspondence from the U.S. Department of Justice. The civil cover sheet accompanying the complaint demands damages estimated to exceed $900 million. PacifiCorp is actively cooperating with the U.S. and Oregon Departments of Justice on resolving these alleged claims. Amounts sought in outstanding complaints and demands filed in Oregon and in certain demands in California approximate $51 billion, excluding any doubling or trebling of damages or punitive damages included in the complaints. Generally, the complaints filed in California do not specify damages sought and are excluded from this amount. Of the $51 billion, $48 billion represents the economic and noneconomic damages sought in the James mass complaints described below. Oregon law provides for doubling of economic and property damages in the event the defendant is found to have acted with gross negligence, recklessness, willfulness or malice. Oregon law provides for trebling of damages associated with timber, shrubs and produce in the event the defendant is determined to have willfully and intentionally trespassed. The 2020 wildfires and 2022 wildfire discussed below are referred to as the “Wildfires.” Based on available information to date, we believe it is probable that losses will be incurred associated with the Wildfires. Final determinations of liability will only be made following the completion of comprehensive investigations, litigation and similar processes. Investigations into the cause and origin of each of the 2020 Wildfires are complex and ongoing and have been or are being conducted by various entities, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (“USFS”), the California Public Utilities Commission, the Oregon Department of Forestry (“ODF”), the Oregon Department of Justice, PacifiCorp and various experts engaged by PacifiCorp. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements Note 22. Contingencies and commitments In May 2022, the USFS issued its report of investigation into the Archie Creek fire concluding that the probable cause of the fire was power lines owned and operated by PacifiCorp. The report also states that evidence indicates failure of power line infrastructure. The USFS report of investigation into the Slater fire for the investigation period October 5, 2020 to December 8, 2020, concluded that the fire was caused by a downed power line owned and operated by PacifiCorp. The report states that evidence indicates a tree fell onto the power line and that wind blew over the 137-foot tree with internal rot that showed no outward signs of distress and would not have been classified or identified as a hazard tree. Settlements have been reached with substantially all individual plaintiffs, timber companies and insurance subrogation plaintiffs in both the Archie Creek and Slater fires with government timber and suppression cost claims remaining. In April 2023, the USFS issued its report of investigation into a wildland fire that began in the Opal Creek wilderness outside of the Santiam Canyon that was first reported on August 16, 2020 (“Beachie Creek Fire”), approximately three weeks prior to the September 2020 wind event described above. In March 2025, PacifiCorp received the ODF’s final investigation report on the Santiam Canyon fires (“ODF’s Report”), which concluded that embers from the pre-existing Beachie Creek Fire caused 12 fires within the Santiam Canyon. The ODF’s Report also found that PacifiCorp’s power lines did not contribute to the overall spread of fire into the Santiam Canyon even though its power lines ignited seven spot fires within the Santiam Canyon that were each suppressed. The Beachie Creek fire that spread into the Santiam Canyon burned approximately 193,000 acres; the South Obenchain fire burned approximately 33,000 acres; the Echo Mountain Complex fire burned approximately 3,000 acres; and the 242 fire burned approximately 14,000 acres. The James cases described below are associated with the Beachie Creek (Santiam Canyon), South Obenchain, Echo Mountain Complex and 242 fires, which are four distinct fires located hundreds of miles apart. On September 30, 2020, a class action complaint against PacifiCorp was filed captioned Jeanyne James et al. v. PacifiCorp et al. (“James”), in Oregon Circuit Court in Multnomah County, Oregon (the “Multnomah Court”) in connection with the 2020 Wildfires. In November 2021, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint to limit the class to include Oregon citizens allegedly impacted by the Santiam Canyon, Echo Mountain Complex, South Obenchain and 242 wildfires, as well as to add claims for noneconomic damages. The amended complaint alleged that PacifiCorp’s assets contributed to the Oregon wildfires occurring on or after September 7, 2020, and that PacifiCorp acted with gross negligence, among other things, seeking damages not less than $600 million of economic damages and in excess of $1 billion of noneconomic damages for the plaintiffs and the class. Numerous cases were consolidated into the original James complaint. Between April 2024 and January 2025, six separate mass complaints against PacifiCorp naming 1,591 individual class members were filed in the Multnomah Court referencing the James case as the lead case. Complaints for five of the plaintiffs in the mass complaints were subsequently dismissed. These James case mass complaints make damages-only allegations seeking economic, noneconomic and punitive damages, as well as doubling of economic damages. In December 2024, two additional complaints were filed in Multnomah Court on behalf of eight plaintiffs also referencing the James case as the lead case. PacifiCorp believes the magnitude of damages sought by the class members in the James case mass complaints and additional two complaints to be of remote likelihood of being awarded based on the amounts awarded in the jury verdicts described below that are being appealed. In January, April and June 2024, the Multnomah Court entered limited judgments and money awards for the James jury verdicts issued in June 2023 for the first trial in which the jury found PacifiCorp’s conduct grossly negligent, reckless and willful as to each of the 17 named plaintiffs and the entire class, and the first two damages phase trials for which the verdicts were issued in January and March 2024. The limited judgments award aggregate damages of $210 million, including $32 million of doubled economic damages, $147 million of noneconomic damages and $41 million of punitive damages based on a 0.25 multiplier applied to economic and noneconomic damages, partially offset by insurance proceeds received by plaintiffs. For each limited judgment entered in the court, PacifiCorp posted a supersedeas bond, which stays any effort to seek payment of the judgments pending final resolution of any appeals. Under Oregon Revised Statutes 82.010, interest at a rate of 9% per annum will accrue on the judgments commencing at the date the judgments were entered until the entire money award is paid, amended or reversed by an appellate court. In January 2024, PacifiCorp filed a notice of appeal associated with the June 2023 verdict in the James case, including whether the case can proceed as a class action and filed a motion to stay further damages phase trials. PacifiCorp amended its appeal of the June 2023 James verdict to include both the January and March 2024 jury verdicts. The appeals process and further actions could take several years. In February and March 2025, the juries for the third and fourth James damages phase trials awarded fifteen plaintiffs $66 million of noneconomic damages in addition to over $6 million of economic damages. PacifiCorp expects the court will award the doubling of economic damages to $13 million and increase the awards for $18 million in punitive damages consistent with the June 2023 James verdict. As a result, PacifiCorp expects the total awards for the fifteen plaintiffs to be approximately $97 million. PacifiCorp filed post-trial motions with the Multnomah Court requesting the court offset the damage awards by deducting insurance proceeds received by any of the plaintiffs. PacifiCorp intends to appeal the jury’s damage awards associated with the February and March 2025 jury verdicts once judgments are entered. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements Note 22. Contingencies and commitments In October 2024, the Multnomah Court issued a case management order, which sets forth nine additional damages phase trials with up to ten plaintiffs per trial. The trials are scheduled to occur throughout 2025, with the verdicts for the first trials received in February and March 2025, as described above. A hearing is scheduled for May 9, 2025, to evaluate scheduling additional damages phase trials in 2026. On March 20, 2025, PacifiCorp filed a motion to stay the remaining James damages phase trials in consideration of the ODF’s Report. The motion was heard by the court and was denied on April 18, 2025. On April 1, 2025, PacifiCorp filed its opening brief with the Oregon Court of Appeals in connection with its appeal of the June 2023 James verdict and the January and March 2024 verdicts for the first two James damages phase trials. In the opening brief, PacifiCorp addressed numerous procedural and legal issues, including that the class certification is improper due to the plaintiffs being impacted by distinct fires with independent ignition points that were hundreds of miles apart; awarding of noneconomic damages is not allowed under Oregon law; plaintiffs failed to prove that PacifiCorp caused harm to every class member; and jury instructions applied incorrect legal standards in assessing class-wide evidence and individual claims. Additionally, PacifiCorp incorporated the ODF’s Report into its opening appellate brief. Various parties who are not party to the James case have filed supportive amicus briefs with the court. Plaintiffs’ reply brief and cross-appeal is due May 20, 2025. According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, a wildfire began on July 29, 2022, in the Oak Knoll Ranger District of the Klamath National Forest in Siskiyou County, California located in PacifiCorp’s service territory (the “2022 Wildfire”) burning over 60,000 acres. Third-party reports indicate that the 2022 Wildfire resulted in 11 structures damaged, 185 structures destroyed, 12 injuries and four fatalities. The USFS issued a Wildland Fire Origin and Cause Supplemental Incident Report. The report concluded that a tree coming in contact with a power line is the probable cause of the 2022 Wildfire. A provision for a loss contingency is recorded when it is probable a liability has been incurred and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. PacifiCorp evaluates the related range of reasonably estimated losses and records a loss based on its best estimate within that range or the lower end of the range if there is no better estimate. Estimated probable losses associated with the Wildfires were based on the information available to the date of this filing, including (i) ongoing cause and origin investigations; (ii) ongoing settlement and mediation discussions; (iii) other litigation matters and upcoming legal proceedings; and (iv) the status of the James case. Estimated losses on the Wildfires include estimates for fire suppression costs, real and personal property damages, natural resource damages and noneconomic damages such as personal injury damages and loss of life damages that are considered probable of being incurred and that it is able to reasonably estimate at this time, and which is subject to change as additional relevant information becomes available. Through March 31, 2025, PacifiCorp recorded cumulative estimated probable Wildfire losses, before taxes and expected related insurance recoveries, of approximately $2.75 billion, of which approximately $1.3 billion has been paid in connection with settlements. There were no Wildfire loss accruals recorded in the first quarters of 2025 or 2024. Estimated unpaid liabilities were approximately $1.4 billion at March 31, 2025. Insurance recoveries recorded to date in connection with the Wildfires were $530 million, which were recorded prior to 2024. All insurance recoveries have been received and no further insurance recoveries are expected to become available. It is reasonably possible PacifiCorp will incur significant additional losses beyond the amounts currently accrued; however, it is currently unable to reasonably estimate the range of possible additional losses that could be incurred due to the number of properties and parties involved, including claimants in the class to the James case and the 2022 Wildfire, the variation in the types of properties and damages and the ultimate outcome of legal actions, including mediation, settlement negotiations, jury verdicts and the appeals process. HomeServices of America, Inc. HomeServices is currently defending against several antitrust cases, all in federal district courts. In each case, plaintiffs claim HomeServices and certain of its subsidiaries (and in one case BHE) conspired with co-defendants to artificially inflate real estate commissions by following and enforcing multiple listing service (“MLS”) rules that require listing agents to offer a commission split to cooperating agents in order for the property to appear on the MLS (“Cooperative Compensation Rule”). None of the complaints specify damages sought. However, two cases also allege Texas state law deceptive trade practices claims, for which plaintiffs have asserted damages totaling approximately $9 billion by separate written notice as required by Texas law. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements Note 22. Contingencies and commitments In one of these cases, Burnett (formerly Sitzer) et al. v. HomeServices of America, Inc. et al. (the “Burnett case”), a jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri returned a verdict for the plaintiffs on October 31, 2023, finding that the named defendants participated in a conspiracy to follow and enforce the Cooperative Compensation Rule, which conspiracy had the purpose or effect of raising, inflating, or stabilizing broker commission rates paid by home sellers. The jury further found that the class plaintiffs had proved damages of $1.8 billion. Joint and several liability applies for the co-defendants. Federal law authorizes trebling of damages and the award of pre-judgment interest and attorney fees. To date, all co-defendants have reached settlements with the plaintiffs. The U.S District Court approved these settlements in May and November 2024. All settlements have been appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. In April 2024, HomeServices agreed to terms with the plaintiffs to settle all claims asserted against HomeServices and certain of its subsidiaries in the Burnett case to effectuate a nationwide class settlement. The final settlement agreement includes scheduled payments over the next four years and aggregating $250 million. HomeServices has made payments of $67 million through March of 2025. If the settlement is not affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, HomeServices intends to vigorously appeal on multiple grounds the jury’s findings and damage award in the Burnett case, including whether the case can proceed as a class action. The appeals process and further actions could take several years. Other legal matters In September 2024, National Indemnity Company (“NICO”) entered into a settlement agreement reached concerning certain non-insurance affiliates that filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey (the “Court”) in 2023. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, NICO agreed to pay $535 million to the bankruptcy estate in consideration of a release of all estate causes of action against NICO and its affiliates. In connection with the settlement agreement, NICO recorded a pre-tax charge of $490 million, which is net of $45 million from a third party that was covered under the release. Certain creditors are opposing approval of the settlement agreement and could potentially pursue appeals of any approval granted by the Court. Berkshire and certain of its subsidiaries are also involved in other kinds of legal actions, some of which assert or may assert claims or seek to impose fines and penalties. We currently believe that liabilities that may arise as a result of such other pending legal actions will not have a material effect on our consolidated financial condition or results of operations. Commitments In January 2024, we acquired the remaining noncontrolling interests in Pilot for $2.6 billion. On September 30, 2024, BHE repurchased 5.85% of its outstanding common stock held by certain noncontrolling BHE shareholders for $2.9 billion. Additionally, in September and October 2024, Berkshire acquired the remaining 2.12% of BHE’s outstanding common stock held by noncontrolling shareholders in exchange for 2,291,631 shares of Berkshire Class B common stock valued at $1.045 billion. The acquisitions of these noncontrolling interests represented equity transactions. We recorded the differences between the consideration paid and the carrying values of the noncontrolling interests, net of deferred income tax liabilities, if applicable, to capital in excess of par value. Pilot and BHE are now wholly-owned subsidiaries.

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