Opinion ID: 1856116
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Claims Against APCo

Text: The plaintiffs' claims against APCo were based on allegations that APCo should have foreseen that Gibbs and Bush would be working dangerously close to the power line and, therefore, should have taken steps to insulate or de-energize the line or to otherwise make the line safer through the use of a fuse or a breaker. APCo argues on appeal, as it did in the trial court, that it had had no knowledge that Gibbs or Bush would be working so close to the power line with a crane; therefore, APCo contends, it could not have reasonably anticipated that they could come in contact with the line and thus it had no duty to insulate or otherwise make the line safer. The duty of an electric utility to protect persons from dangerous power lines is well settled: While this Court has long held that companies engaged in the distribution of electricity are not subject to strict liability, it has held: `The duty of an electric company, in conveying a current of high potential, to exercise commensurate care under the circumstances, requires it to insulate its wires, and to use reasonable care to keep the same insulated, wherever it may reasonably be anticipated that persons, pursuing business or pleasure, may come in contact therewith. This statement of the rule implies that, in the absence of statute or municipal ordinance, it is not necessary to insulate wires which are so placed that no one could reasonably be expected to come in proximity to them.`  Curtis on Law of Electricity, § 510 (as quoted in Alabama Power Co. v. Mosley, 294 Ala. 394, 400, 318 So.2d 260, 264 (1975)); see Alabama Power Co. v. Alexander, 370 So.2d 252, 254 (Ala.1979). In Bush v. Alabama Power Co., 457 So.2d 350 (Ala.1984), this Court further held that the duty to insulate power lines or to protect them with fuses arises only where it is foreseeable that members of the public may come into contact with a wire. Cherokee Electric Cooperative v. Cochran, 706 So.2d 1188, 1192 (Ala.1997). The trial court entered a summary judgment for APCo, stating: With respect to Plaintiffs' contention that Alabama Power Company had actual or constructive notice of the danger presented by the subject `tap line' to the Harpole work crew, because its employee Terry Fair had been present at the work site on two separate dates, counsel were all in agreement that the work of the Harpole crew had not yet started as of the date of the later of those two occasions, and none of their material or equipment was on the site. Accordingly, none of the work activity the Harpole crew later undertook had yet been commenced; none of its personnel were present; and neither the crane [nor] the scaffolding involved in the incident underlying this litigation, and no equipment, tools, appliances, or material otherwise utilized by, or belonging to, Harpole were present. After considering all of the materials and submissions of record (including the February 3, 1998, deposition of Plaintiffs' expert, M.A. Martin, Jr., under the circumstances hereinafter explained) and considering the applicable law, the Court finds that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact relevant to the liability issues involving Alabama Power Company and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Accordingly, the Court hereby enters judgment in favor of Alabama Power Company with respect to all of the claims and theories of liability asserted against it by the respective Plaintiffs.... The plaintiffs cite nothing in the record that would contradict the trial court's finding that Terry Fair, the APCo engineer on whose presence at the construction site the plaintiffs rely to establish the requisite knowledge on APCo's part, was not on the construction site while the Harpole crew was using the crane in close proximity to the power line. The plaintiffs argue, however, that during his deposition Fair admitted to being on Watermelon Road at various unspecified times while the Harpole crew was on the construction site; Fair testified that he was supervising the relocation of power poles and lines on that road. According to the plaintiffs, a jury could reasonably infer that if Fair was involved in a project on that road, then he must have seen the Harpole crew using the crane within close proximity to the power line. We cannot agree. Viewing Fair's testimony in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, as our standard of review requires us to do, see Ex parte Brislin, supra , we conclude that a jury could reasonably infer that Fair was, at certain times, working in close proximity to the construction site while the Harpole crew was present. However, Fair never testified that he saw the Harpole crew using the crane, or that he ever saw a crane on the construction site. In the absence of such testimony, or some other evidence indicating that Fair was actually at a point where he could have seen the construction site while the Harpole crew was working there in close proximity to the power line, we must conclude that the evidence was not sufficient to submit to the jury the plaintiffs' claims against APCo. See Bonner v. Electric Power Board of the City of Scottsboro, 583 So.2d 260 (Ala.1991); see, also, Campbell v. Alabama Power Co., 378 So.2d 718 (Ala.1979). A jury is not allowed to speculate; it must be able to make reasonable inferences based on the evidence. Western Supermarkets, Inc. v. Cox, 584 So.2d 820 (Ala. 1991); White v. Cooper Green Hospital, 523 So.2d 371 (Ala.1988); Wagner v. Winn-Dixie, 399 So.2d 295 (Ala.1981). For the foregoing reasons, the judgments are affirmed. 1971648AFFIRMED. 1971649AFFIRMED. HOOPER, C.J., and MADDOX, SEE, and BROWN, JJ., concur. KENNEDY, COOK, LYONS, and JOHNSTONE, JJ., concur in part and dissent in part.