Attorneys representing Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative in a $2.2 million civil lawsuit that a Baker City couple filed in 2024, claiming a power surge started a fire that damaged their home, have asked a judge to dismiss the complaint.

In a motion filed in June, attorneys Emma Nowacki and Keely Duke, of the Boise firm Duke Evett, contend the plaintiffs, Donald and Charlotte Beck, haven’t proved that high voltage caused the fire at their home on Hudson Road, about a mile east of Interstate 84 and just north of Highway 86, on April 5, 2022.

OTEC’s attorneys also argued that the cooperative’s bylaws, which constitute a contract with its members, make OTEC iable for damages caused by fluctuating power only in cases of “gross negligence or willful misconduct.”

OTEC’s attorneys also contend in court filings that under Oregon law, electricity is not a product that can be included in a liability claim.

A hearing on a variety of motions in the Becks’ lawsuit is scheduled for July 28 at 9:30 a.m. in Baker County Circuit Court.

The Becks are represented by Billy M. Sime, an attorney from Parks Bauer LLP in Salem.

According to the lawsuit, on April 5, 2022, “there was a surge of abnormally high voltage of electricity through OTECC’s distribution line to the meter attached to the Becks’ home, causing the service entry cable and the main circuit breakers to blow apart and causing a fire which started inside of the wall between the meter and circuit breaker.”

The blaze spread to the Becks’ home, causing damage that displaced them from the home for 10 months, according to the lawsuit.

The Becks contend in the suit that the “electricity delivered to the meter on the Becks’ home was in a defective condition in that the surge of the abnormally high voltage of electricity was not contemplated by the Becks and it was unreasonably dangerous to the Becks’ person and property.”

The lawsuit states that the fire caused damage to the home totaling $161,539, and damage to their personal property totaling $30,481. The couple incurred additional expenses totaling $58,839.

Donald Beck is a sculptor and western artist, and according to the lawsuit the molds he created, and the original items used to make the molds, were stored in a studio in the couple’s home. Those items were damaged and can no longer be used to cast bronze sculptures, according to the lawsuit.

The suit also states that the Becks, as a result of the fire, “suffered emotional distress, upset, worry, loss of sleep, stress and an interference with their normal and usual activities. …”

They are seeking noneconomic damages, not to exceed $2 million, with the amount to be determined by a jury.

In  court filing, OTEC’s attorneys wrote that cooperative records show that “voltage readings from the day of the fire were within industry standards.” The attorneys have also raised in records the possibility that a skunk touching the circuit breaker panel at the Becks’ house started the fire.

In a document dated June 30, 2025, OTEC’s attorneys argued that the Becks’ damages were caused by “their own contributory negligence,” citing alleged failure by the couple “to maintain their home and crawlspace in a reasonably safe manner from fire,” to “protect their electrical system from being damaged by animals,” and “to maintain their electrical equipment and wiring and protect it from fire.”