OR HB3917

Creates the Catastrophic Wildfire Fund in the State Treasury to pay property damage claims from wildfires ignited by public utility facilities, with total capitalization capped at $800 million from all participating utilities

Requires public utilities to capitalize the fund through customer tariffs collected over up to 10 years, with customers paying no more than 50% of contributions and rate increases limited to 3% per customer class

Establishes an independent administrator appointed by the Public Utility Commission to process claims, with claimants eligible to receive up to 80% of allowed property damages and up to $100,000 in noneconomic damages (adjusted annually for inflation)

Mandates PUC investigation of utility conduct prior to wildfire ignition, with utilities found imprudent required to reimburse the fund up to 20% of their Oregon transmission and distribution equity rate base

Applies only to wildfires ignited after the effective date and takes effect immediately upon passage as an emergency measure