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Pacific Power, part of PacifiCorp, said Monday it has agreed to a $178 settlement with over 400 Oregon plaintiffs in the latest multimillion-dollar payout related to the deadly 2020 wildfires that ravaged the state.

PacifiCorp can’t limit how much it will have to pay for wildfire damage in Oregon, under a decision Thursday by state utility regulators.

Dozens of Oregon wineries and vineyards have sued PacifiCorp over the deadly 2020 wildfires that ravaged the state, alleging that the utility’s decision to not turn off power during the Labor Day windstorm contributed to blazes whose smoke and soot damaged their grapes and reduced their harvest and sales.

A jury in Oregon has ordered PacifiCorp to pay more than $42 million to 10 victims of devastating wildfires on Labor Day 2020 — the latest verdict in litigation that is expected to see the electric utility on the hook for billions in damages.

The U.S. government is threatening to sue PacifiCorp to recover nearly $1 billion of costs related to the 2020 wildfires in Southern Oregon and Northern California

Electric company Pacific Power is proposing to hike rates, which would affect most of Southern Oregon.

For the second time this month, the utility provider PacifiCorp will pay out hundreds of millions of dollars to end a lawsuit over its alleged role in the devastating Oregon wildfires in 2020.

Wildfire victims and their advocates say the PacifiCorp ruling is a lifeline after nearly three years without enough insurance money, emergency funding or government support for people who lost everything and are struggling to start over.

As the climate warms, the risks of major wildfires are growing, and PacifiCorp is not the only utility to face blame for their role in sparking them.

In a filing Thursday with the Oregon Public Utility Commission, PacifiCorp asked its regulators to allow it to defer any costs related to wildfire liability through June 2024. That would allow the company the option to add those costs to customer rates in the future.

The defense follows several weeks of plaintiffs' attorneys alleging that PacifiCorp acted negligently by keeping its lines energized during the Labor Day fires.

Expert witnesses say the electric utility suffered from a lack of leadership during the 2020 fires.