Opinion ID: 1683414
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: did the chancellor err in granting any relief to fourth davis?

Text: The Parkers cross-appeal on the ground that the chancellor erred in awarding Fourth Davis a judgment for the cost of electricity consumed by the Parkers that was paid for by Fourth Davis. The Parkers also contend that it was error for the chancellor to grant Fourth Davis a right to receive electricity across the power line when available. 1. From 1966 to 1976, the Parkers enjoyed free electricity as part consideration under the C & S Cattle lease. Fourth Davis agreed in negotiations to terminate this lease to pay for electricity consumed by the Parkers for the duration of the lease. With the expiration of this lease ended the Parkers' legal entitlement to free electricity. Although Fourth Davis continued to pay the bills in order to insure uninterrupted service, it is clear that Fourth Davis expected to control the maintenance and repair of the power line in return. The chancellor, having denied Fourth Davis this right, apparently concluded that it was entitled to reimbursement from the Parkers on a theory of unjust enrichment, with the corresponding liability for one-half of the Parkers' cost of maintenance and repair. The Parkers contend that since Fourth Davis had no easement, it is not entitled to contribution for sums it voluntarily paid to get service from 1977 to 1982. The fact that Fourth Davis does not have a power line easement on the Parkers' property does not absolve the Parkers from liability for electricity they consumed but did not pay for. The principle of restitution is that a person who has been unjustly enriched at the expense of another is required to make restitution to that other. Restatement of Restitution, § 1, Magnolia Federal Savings and Loan Ass'n v. Craft Realty, 342 So.2d 1308 (Miss. 1977). The Parkers have clearly been enriched by Fourth Davis' assumption of their utility bill for four years. The Parkers failure to base their non-liability on stronger grounds than the asserted charity of Fourth Davis demonstrates that their enrichment was unjust. This is not a case where Fourth Davis has conferred a benefit upon the Parkers without a valid reason for so doing. The negotiations reveal that Fourth Davis no longer considered itself liable for the Parkers' electrical bill, but continued to pay it in order to ensure uninterrupted service. The chancellor properly applied the rule of unjust enrichment to the facts of this case to require the Parkers to reimburse Fourth Davis for the electricity they consumed between 1977 and 1982. 2. The Parkers object to the chancellor's ruling that Fourth Davis has a right to receive one-half of the electricity through the Parker power line, when available from L P & L. This objection is based on the fact that since the chancellor denied Fourth Davis an implied power line easement, any right to receive electricity through the line should be left to negotiations between the parties. The Parkers assert that the right granted by the chancellor amounts to an irrevocable license, which this Court has refused to recognize in the law of property. In Belzoni Oil v. Yazoo M.V.R. Co., 94 Miss. 58, 47 So. 468, 472-73 (1908), this Court held that a license may not be made irrevocable, stating: It is far better, we think, that the law requiring interest in land to be evidenced by deed should be observed, than to leave it to the chancellor to construe an executed license as a grant, depending upon what, in his view, may be equity in a special case. The Belzoni Court explained that the rule that a license may not be made irrevocable was based on the policy that gives security and certainty of titles, which are most important to be preserved against defects and qualifications not founded upon solemn instruments. In Reid v. Horne, 187 So.2d 316 (Miss. 1966), Horne improved Reid's property based upon oral permission to cross the property. When Reid refused to recognize the promise in writing, Horne sued for an irrevocable license. This Court held that such a license would amount to an easement and ruled against Horne, relying on Belzoni and the statute of frauds. When, as this Court concludes, the chancellor correctly ruled that Fourth Davis was not entitled to an implied power line easement, it is conceptually difficult to simultaneously find that Fourth Davis had a right to receive power through the line so long as it is available from L P & L. Such a right would appear not to be subject to revocation by the Parkers. Such an irrevocable right to receive electricity would amount to an implied easement. The chancellor granted Fourth Davis the right to receive electricity based upon the terms of the agricultural lease and the prior conduct of the parties. Fourth Davis enjoyed the electrical service of the power line until 1977 based upon the terms of the C & S Cattle lease. Any judicially established right to continue to enjoy this service short of an implied power line easement would appear to be in the nature of an irrevocable license and thus not within the law of property of this state. Since this Court has concluded that electrical service through the power line is not reasonably necessary, in view of the available alternatives of generators and butane appliances, Fourth Davis must henceforth rely upon these alternatives unless it negotiates an access agreement with the Parkers.