Oregon
Steiner, Gudman run for Democrat nomination for the Oregon Treasurer in Tuesday primary
This story will be updated at 8 p.m. with the first election results
State senator Elizabeth Steiner faces former Lake Oswego City Councilor Jeff Gudman for the Democrat nomination for Oregon Treasurer in Tuesday’s primary election.
The winner will advance to the November general election against Republican Brian Boquist, a state senator from Dallas who is barred from running for re-election in the legislature because he had 10 or more unexcused floor absences during 10 senators’ walkouts during the 2023 session.
Tobias Read, who has been treasurer since 2017, is barred from running again due to term limits. He is running for Secretary of State.
Gudman previously ran against Read in the 2020 and 2016 elections as a Republican. He was a city councilor in Lake Oswego from 2011 to 2018 and chaired the city’s budget committee.
He said he was committed to diversifying voices and experiences at the treasurer’s office by formalizing a transparent advisor process.
Gudman also said his platform included defending pension commitments, taking “meaningful steps” on climate change through corporate governance, and establishing a bipartisan plan around the redirection of kicker revenues.
Steiner has been a lawmaker since 2011 and co-chair of the legislature’s Ways and Means committee since 2018.
She said she would continue Read’s net zero plan, follow through on the COAL Act introduced during the 2024 legislative session, and expand and grow existing programs including the implementation of a baby bond program.
Steiner also said she would bring together savings programs offered by the State Treasurer’s office into one platform such as a website or app to increase their use and accessibility.
Dianne Lugo covers the Oregon Legislature and equity issues. Reach her at dlugo@statesmanjournal.com or on Twitter @DianneLugo
Three Oregon lawmakers say they plan to introduce a bill that would bar utilities from raising rates if they have unresolved wildfire lawsuits for three or more years, describing it as an effort to hold PacifiCorp accountable as the utility faces a series of lawsuits stemming from the deadly 2020 wildfires that ravaged the state.
Republican state Reps. Jami Cate, Virgle Osborne and Ed Diehl announced their proposal in a statement Monday, on the heels of an approved rate increase for PacifiCorp customers and a federal lawsuit against the electric power company.
The federal government sued PacifiCorp last week over the Archie Creek Fire, which ignited in Oregon’s Douglas County in September 2020 and burned more than 200 square miles, about half of which was federal land. The complaint accuses the company of negligence for failing to maintain its power lines to prevent wildfires. In its filing, the government says it brought the suit to recover “substantial costs and damages.”
A PacifiCorp spokesperson said in an emailed statement Monday that the company was working with the U.S. government to resolve the claims.
“It is unfortunate the U.S. government decided to file a lawsuit in federal district court, however PacifiCorp will continue to work with the U.S. government to find reasonable resolution of this matter,” the statement said.
The federal lawsuit was filed on the same day the Oregon Public Utility Commission approved a 9.8% rate increase for PacifiCorp’s residential customers next year. In its rate case filings, the company said its request to increase rates was partly due to higher costs stemming from wildfire risk and activity.
When the new rate takes effect in January, PacifiCorp rates will have increased nearly 50% since 2021, according to the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board, which advocates on behalf of utility customers.
The three lawmakers said they will introduce their bill in the upcoming legislative session, which starts in January.
“The federal government is doing the right thing by filing this lawsuit, and we stand firmly behind it,” Osborne, who is set to be the future bill’s co-chief sponsor, said in a statement. “PacifiCorp needs to pay up and take responsibility for the destruction they’ve caused, and putting a stop to rate hikes is the best way to achieve it.”
PacifiCorp is poised to be on the hook for billions in damages in the series of lawsuits over Oregon’s 2020 fires.
The company has already reached two settlement agreements over the Archie Creek Fire, including one for $299 million with 463 plaintiffs impacted by the blaze and another for $250 million with 10 companies with commercial timber interests, according to its website.
In other litigation, an Oregon jury in June 2023 found it liable for negligently failing to cut power to its 600,000 customers despite warnings from top fire officials and determined it should have to pay punitive and other damages — a decision that applied to a class including the owners of up to 2,500 properties. Since then, other Oregon juries have ordered the company to pay tens of millions to other wildfire victims.
The wildfires that erupted across Oregon over Labor Day weekend in 2020 were among the worst natural disasters in state history, killing nine people and destroying thousands of homes.
— The Associated Press
On Wednesday at 2:18 a.m. the National Weather Service issued a wind advisory valid from 10 p.m. until Thursday 10 a.m. for North Central Oregon and Central Oregon.
The weather service states, “South winds 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 45 mph expected.”
“Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result,” adds the weather service. “Winds this strong can make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Use extra caution.”
Advance Local Weather Alerts is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to compile the latest data from the National Weather Service.
Oregon
Oregon lawmakers to introduce bill barring utility rate increases amid unresolved wildfire lawsuits
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