Court Opinion

ID: 9771868
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 16:57:06.061034+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:38.658567
License: Public Domain

PREWITT, Chief Judge,
concurring.
The principal opinion does not decide if strict liability in tort applies to sellers of electricity placed into the “stream of commerce”, but the opinion reviews causation as if strict liability does apply. Although cases, some cited in the principal opinion, talk about the degree of proof required in strict liability in tort, I doubt if the proof of causation required under that theory would be different from that required under any other theory of liability. However, because whether plaintiffs’ theory of liability applies is the more significant question and could be dispositive, before reviewing causation I would determine if strict liability in tort could apply here.
Defendant contends that strict liability in tort does not apply to the furnishing of electricity, but “if the product liability theory was extended to for-profit utility companies in this situation, it would not be applicable to a non-profit rural electric cooperative.”
In Keener v. Dayton Electric Manufacturing Co., 445 S.W.2d 362, 364 (Mo.1969), Missouri adopted “the rule of strict liability in tort stated in 2 Restatement, Law of Torts, Second, § 402A” (1965). This section is set forth below.1 As the principal opinion notes, whether strict liability as described in § 402A can be applied to damage caused by electricity has not been decided in Missouri.
Missouri cases have said that electric generating companies do not have “strict *343liability” for injuries resulting from electricity, Mrad v. Missouri Edison Co., 649 S.W.2d 936, 941 (Mo.App.1983), and that such companies are not insurers of the safety of persons, but that their liability is determined by principles of negligence. Hamilton v. Laclede Electric Cooperative, 294 S.W.2d 11, 15 (Mo.1956); Calderone v. St Joseph Light & Power Co., 557 S.W.2d 658, 667 (Mo.App.1977); Donovan v. Union Electric Co., 454 S.W.2d 623, 626 (Mo.App.1970); Foote v. Scott-New Madrid-Mississippi Electric Cooperative, 359 S.W.2d 40, 43 (Mo.App.1962).
However, those decisions do not cover this situation. There the courts were not discussing products liability based on strict liability in tort. Rather, they were stating that the utilities were not strictly liable without fault for any injuries resulting from the transmission of electricity. None of the cases involved an attempt to proceed on a products liability theory, perhaps because they involved only the transmission, not the sale of electricity.
In response to a question, counsel for appellant stated in oral argument that he had not found a case holding that sellers of electricity cannot be subject to strict liability in tort if the electricity has been put into the stream of commerce.
All of the cases from other jurisdictions which are cited to us or we have found, hold that sellers of electricity are subject to strict liability in tort if the electricity has been put into the stream of commerce. See Pierce v. Pacific Gas & Electric Co., 166 Cal.App.3d 68, 212 Cal.Rptr. 283 (1985); Aversa v. Public Service Electric & Gas Co., 186 N.J.Super. 130, 451 A.2d 976 (1982); Ransome v. Wisconsin Electric Power Co., 87 Wis.2d 605, 275 N.W.2d 641 (1979). See also Petroski v. Northern Indiana Public Service Co., 171 Ind.App. 14, 354 N.E.2d 736, 747 (1976) (“Electricity is a product which can be sold within the meaning of § 402A”); Buckeye Union Fire Insurance Co. v. Detroit Edison Co., 38 Mich.App. 325, 196 N.W.2d 316 (1972) (implied warranties apply in sale of electricity); Note, Torts of Electric Utilities: Can Strict Liability Be Plugged In?, 11 Loy.L.A. L.Rev. 775 (1978).
Distributing electricity is different from distributing most other commodities. Many overhead transmission lines are near public roads exposing the lines to damage by vehicles. Vandals and acts of nature can affect the lines. Some of the things that could affect electrical transmission may be impossible, as a practical matter, to prevent or guard against. Applying strict liability in tort to a seller of electricity seems harsher than to the seller of a product where the seller can more easily prevent alterations to its products before they are sold.
Nevertheless, the sale of electricity would appear to come within the strict liability in tort rule of the Restatement. Electricity can be sold, consumed, and stolen. When its voltage is far in excess of that contemplated it can be unreasonably dangerous for the anticipated use.2 Spreading the risk of the loss in such a situation is more desirable than placing the burden on individual consumers.
I believe that this court should hold that strict liability in tort is a proper theory to assert damages against an electrical utility company if electricity leaves the company’s system and enters its customer’s electrical system in a dangerous and unanticipated condition. This theory would not be applicable to damage while electricity is being transmitted by a utility within its own system. See Annot., Applicability of Rule of Strict Liability to Injury from Electrical Current Escaping from Powerline, 82 A.L. R.3d 218, 223 (1978).
That defendant may be a nonprofit rural electric cooperative does not insulate it from liability on this theory. Such cooperatives are liable in tort. Byrd v. Blue Ridge Rural Electrical Cooperative, 215 F.2d 542, 547 (4th Cir.1954); cert. denied. 348 *344U.S. 915, 75 S.Ct. 295, 99 L.Ed. 717 (1955). See also Lamar Electric Membership Corp. v. Carroll, 89 Ga.App. 440, 79 S.E.2d 832 (1953); Erwin v. Guadalupe Valley Electric Co-op., 505 S.W.2d 353 (Tex.Civ.App.1974).
Defendant relies upon Katz v. Slade, 460 S.W.2d 608 (Mo.1970), to support the position stated in its brief that “[i]n Missouri the application of the rule of strict liability in tort is limited to mass producers and distributors of the products of industry engaging in profit-making businesses organized for economic gain.” Katz held that strict liability in tort could not be used against a city for leasing defective golf carts. The court’s holding is summarized by its statement that “[u]nder the circumstances of this case we adhere to the previous holdings restricting the application of the rule of strict liability in tort to mass producers and distributors of the products of industry.” 460 S.W.2d at 613. Here, defendant is a distributor of electricity, a product of industry. As such, defendant is not aided by Katz.
Believing that strict liability in tort can apply to defendant’s sale of electricity, I would review and find, as did the principal opinion, that there was insufficient evidence that the defect claimed caused the fire.

. § 402A. Special Liability of Seller of Product for Physical Harm to User or Consumer
(1) One who sells any product in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the user or consumer or to his property is subject to liability for physical harm thereby caused to the ultimate user or consumer, or to his property, if
(a) the seller is engaged in the business of selling such a product, and
(b) it is expected to and does reach the user or consumer without substantial change in the condition in which it is sold.
(2) The rule stated in Subsection (1) applies although
(a) the seller has exercised all possible care in the preparation and sale of his product, and
(b) the user or consumer has not bought the product from or entered into any contractual relation with the seller.

. The claimed defect of excessive voltage here is neither a design defect or a manufacturing defect in their usual sense. See Fischer, Products Liability — The Meaning of Defect, 39 Mo.L.Rev. 339, 340 (1974).