Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services
The Arizona State Court of Appeals ruled on November 30th that state utilities cannot legally shield themselves from a lawsuit when their negligence harms an individual, kills an individual, or causes property damage. An Attorney for the Arizona Public Service argued that: although state utilities may protect themselves from lawsuits in the cases of incidental damage (such as economic losses from power interruptions and even damage to equipment due to voltage fluctuations), that does not apply in this case where a utility’s negligence to maintain the electrical distribution system has started a fire and caused property damage.
The assumption that state utilities were shieled from a lawsuit came from a misinterpretation of the Arizona Public Service Tariffs. The Arizona Public Service Tariffs (the rules that govern a relationship with customers) state that utilities are shielded against lawsuits of ordinary negligence. This assumption precluded Chao Xie and Yit Kiue Szeto from seeking damages from APS for damages to her property in Maricopa County caused by negligent maintenance of powerlines. This assumption also precluded a lawsuit by Lydia Briones who occupied the home. However, this was not ruled as ordinary negligence.
This property damage was a cause of unsafe transfer powerlines. A fire investigator had determined that the fire was caused by arching of the overhead powerlines on utility poles between the homes. The Court of Appellate did not believe the state utilities should be shielded from a lawsuit either do to arching along a service line does not fall under ordinary negligence.