# Wyoming shields utility companies from wildfire-liability payouts

**Contributor:** Cy Neff in Cheyenne

**Date:** Fri 14 Mar 2025 08.00 EDT  
**Updated March 14, 2025 08:04 EDT**

Wyoming’s governor has signed a bill that limits the liability for electric utility companies found guilty of starting wildfires.

Legislators argued that the bill was necessary for utility companies to function in an era of massive fire-related class-action lawsuits, especially for many of the smaller, co-op utilities that are a hallmark of the mountain west.

“We are one wildfire away from bankruptcy for these small utilities and these cooperatives,” the  Republican representative Jeremy Haroldson said in a floor debate in February.

Wyoming’s legislation pokes at a question crucial in today’s American west. Wildfires are tearing across the region summer after summer, often sparked by power lines or negligent utility maintenance. Utility companies are seeing soaring insurance rates. Who  for damages?

Some western legislatures have ushered through bills that offer utilities a reduced level of liability if they produce a wildfire-mitigation plan, often by modifying what constitutes acceptable damages. States that are weighing bills this year include , , , , and . Utah passed .

Proponents say the bills are crucial for effective wildfire prevention and keeping utility companies in the black when wildfire insurance rates are rising at an explosive pace. Rocky Mountain Power began a push for a 14% rate hike () on its Wyoming customers by saying their liability insurance had risen 1,888% in the last five years – due to wildfires.

“We recognize the impact that the rising costs of providing electric service has on customers,” said Dick Garlish, the Rocky Mountain Power president, in a . “The dynamic economic conditions we face are similar to those challenging all other electric providers in the nation.”

Past wildfire survivors are skeptical, at best, of this type of legislation. One survivor, Sam Drevo, spoke with the .

“Do you think the legislature should be taking care of PacifiCorp while Oregonians who were burned up in 2020 and 2022 are still suffering, not able to rebuild and move on with their lives?” Drevo said.

One thing that can be agreed on: the financial stakes are huge.

California’s PG&E  after being , ultimately paying out . PG&E exited bankruptcy and reincorporated in 2020. Lawmakers in the Golden state gave utilities permission to  for fire prevention between 2019 and 2023. This past winter’s wildfires will be the  of the pooled fund.

PacifiCorp was found liable for the state’s 2020 Labor Day wildfires, and has been ordered to pay out . Plaintiffs have yet to be compensated, as PacifiCorp plans to appeal the verdict; and, , 30 victims have died since the case began.

PacifiCorp is owned by the billionaire Warren Buffett’s . Its subsidiary Pacific Power operates in Oregon, California, and Washington, while its subsidiary Rocky Mountain Power operates in Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho. , PacifiCorp is facing at least $46bn in claims for wildfire negligence.
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