Klamath Off-Project Water Users, Inc. v. PacifiCorp

Half a century ago, plaintiffs entered into an agreement for the purchase of electric power from an electric utility, the predecessor to defendant PacifiCorp. The agreement included no expiration clause. Fifty years later, PacifiCorp sought from the Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC) approval of an increase in the rate for power sold to plaintiffs. When the PUC granted the request, plaintiffs sued PacifiCorp for breach of contract, and breach of implied duty of good faith and fair dealing under the common law and the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), former ORS 71.2030 (2007), renumbered as…