Western U.S. Wildfires Have Made Insurance for Contractors a Tough Buy
Things look bad with California’s ever-sooner wildfire season seemingly approaching and what’s shaping up to be a severe drought across the Western U.S.
The plague of wildfires in the past few years in California have made things tough for residents and businesses, and in the last few years, larger and more frequent wildfires have been particularly bad for utilities.
One business segment that’s getting some bad breaks are contractors that work for utilities or that work in wildfire-prone areas.
Contractors performing different classes of work in these wildfire-plagued geographies –vegetation management, utility-related work, infrastructure development – have seen rapidly accelerating insurance rates, and in some cases these businesses have been forced to decline work due to high insurance rates or a complete lack of available coverage.
Utilities sued for $103M over fires
PORTLAND (AP) A lawsuit filed on behalf of 70 landowners in Oregon s McKenzie River Valley seeks $103 million from Lane Electric Cooperative and Eugene Water and Electric Board for damages linked to one of the Labor Day fires that ravaged communities around the state.
The Holiday Farm fire killed one person and destroyed 430 homes, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. The plaintiffs contend that the two utilities failed to de-energize their power lines despite widespread forecasts for extreme fire weather.
Oregon Landowner Suit Seeks $103M from Public Utilities for Wildfire May 17, 2021
A lawsuit filed on behalf of 70 landowners in Oregon’s McKenzie River Valley seeks $103 million from Lane Electric Cooperative and Eugene Water and Electric Board for damages linked to one of the Labor Day fires that ravaged communities around the state.
The Holiday Farm fire killed one person and destroyed 430 homes, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. The plaintiffs contend that the two utilities failed to de-energize their power lines despite widespread forecasts for extreme fire weather.
An official cause of the fire hasn’t been released, but the lawsuit says fires started when tree branches contacted power lines east of Eugene.
Lawsuit seeks $103M from public utilities over wildfire mailtribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mailtribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.