Thirty-five Willamette Valley wineries and vineyards are suing PacifiCorp for nearly $103 million, accusing the electric utility of negligence for damaging grapes, their harvest and wine sales by causing 2020 Labor Day wildfires.

The lawsuit was filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court May 24 and plaintiffs demand a jury trial.

PacifiCorp also faces a previous $28 million complaint over smoke damage to wine grapes from the 2020 fires.

According to the new filing, PacifiCorp refused to shut down power during dangerous winds that hit the region, while three neighboring utilities turned off their electricity to protect the public.

“PacifiCorp chose profits over safety,” the lawsuit states.

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Plaintiffs also are seeking injunctions that would require PacifiCorp to conduct necessary maintenance on its system, adopt new safety standards and withhold payments to parent company Berkshire Hathaway Energy until it has completed wildfire mitigation steps.

Grape damages

Smoke and soot from the fires, which raged for weeks, landed on and infused grapes from the 2020 harvests and wine vintages, according to the lawsuit.

Despite extraordinary costs, cleansing efforts failed for the vast majority of the 2020 vintage.

Plaintiffs claim they were unable to sell wine through various outlets, creating a cascading effect of lost shelf space and reputation that continued in subsequent seasons.

The lawsuit said it will take at least five to seven years to rebuild their businesses.

Fire damage varied widely for plaintiffs, ranging from $34,000 for King’s Vineyard to $11.5 million for Domaine Serene.

Ignored warnings

According to the lawsuit, PacifiCorp executives ignored warnings from public agencies and its own forecaster about a once-in-a-lifetime wind storm with dangerous fire risk.

During the windstorm, trees and branches that should have been trimmed and removed fell onto live electrical lines and sparked fires.

PacifiCorp’s dilapidated electric line equipment also failed because it had not been maintained, the lawsuit states.

The company also should have known about the potential for smoke damage to the wine industry based on fires from 2017 and 2019.

In the aftermath of the 2020 fires, PacifiCorp destroyed physical and electronic evidence about the nature of the fires instead of preserving those materials as required by law, the lawsuit states.

Other lawsuits

About 1,000 victims of the Labor Day fires filed $42.5 billion in claims against PacifiCorp in April.

Those were added to a case in which a jury awarded a $90 million judgment against PacifiCorp in June 2023.

A jury also awarded $85 million to different plaintiffs in February and $42 million to a third set in March, the Associated Press reported.

PacifiCorp has paid about $550 million in settlements for wildfire-related lawsuits from Douglas County, Ore.

In a statement, PacifiCorp said the safety of customers and communities remains its top priority, and that it’s committed to settling all reasonable claims.

“The growing threat of wildfires affects everyone and is larger than any single company, industry or government. It is critical that wildfire-related issues be solved holistically, with businesses, governments and key stakeholders working together to design and implement constructive, enduring solutions,” the statement reads.