PacifiCorp has agreed to pay $125 million to dozens of Oregon wineries and vineyards that sued the electric utility over the 2020 Labor Day wildfires .
The 93 winery and vineyard owners accused PacifiCorp — which owns Oregon’s second-largest electricity provider, Pacific Power — of negligence over the 2020 Labor Day weekend.
The company failed to cut power to customers during a windstorm, despite warnings from Oregon fire officials, leaving its equipment prone to sparking a wildfire.
In 2023, a jury in a separate case concluded PacifiCorp caused substantial damage related to wildfires in the Santiam Canyon, as well as fires in Southern Oregon and the Oregon Coast.
Those fires blanketed Oregon in smoke for days. Wine grapes exposed to wildfire smoke can make for ashy tasting wine. S