This story was produced by the Oregon Journalism Project, a nonprofit newsroom covering the state.

They are words seldom seen in the same paragraph or uttered in the same sentence: Warren Buffett and bankruptcy.

But the self-made multibillionaire Buffett has a big problem with his company’s Portland-based electric utility PacifiCorp.

In a Nov. 3 quarterly earnings statement, the company said it faces a potential “liquidity crisis” stemming from its role in the 2020 Labor Day wildfires. The utility warned that it could be swamped by legal liabilities stemming from the conflagration.

The company made money in the quarter—$1.48 billion to be exact. But it also warned of a looming cash crunch. The leading international ratings agencies—Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s—downgraded PacifiCorp’s

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