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Massive Power Surge related to Auto Accident

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HankJS

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?

What is the name of your state? Delaware
First time poster:

I will start here, because an auto accident started this mess, though I may need to move the issue to another part of the forum.

Several days ago, and automobile accident about five or six city blocks from my house creamed a power utility pole causing a ~60,000 volt line to land on a lower ~15,000 volt line. The next pole in the line carried the 15,000 volt line into the electric distribution grid for my 500 home development. The result was 2 massive surges separated by just several seconds.

The manifestation in my house was a series of loud popping sounds, followed in short order another more violent series of pops and anything within my sight showering sparks. The house quickly filled with smoke and and acrid smell of burned electric items. No fire ensued.

My own damage list includes a Verizon fios TV cable DVR box, 6 surge protectors, several power strips and a 6month old VCR. All these items show signs of severe electrical stress by was of blackened plugs, wires and outlets. My precious:), and expensive computer system was on at the time and behind an expensive surge protector, and was saved. The surge protector was toast, however.

Through out the neighborhood, it seems if anything electric was on, it's now dead. This includes central A/C units, refrigerators, stoves, TV's, computers, stereos, etc. Being an officer in the local civic association, I've talked to several residents that are facing thousands of dollars in repairs and replacements. Damage has been reported as far away as a mile and a half from the accident site.

I filed a claim for damages through the power utility's customer service line and in less than 24 hours turn around, I had a written denial in hand through the US Mail. I figure they invested less than 4 business hours to what they termed a "complete investigation" of the incident.

Apparently, the utility is given a pass via the state's PSC regulatory tariffs. They clearly state that the utility shall be absolved of any liability caused by any irregularity in the delivery of electricity, for whatever the reason.

So we're left with home policies and the driver's insurance. Some home policies don't electrical hazards, mine does. But the driver's insurance coverage for property damage not involving the vehicle at the accident site is $30,000. How do I know? I have the same underwriter and I have the top limit for that coverage.

My contention is that this event was so massive and widespread that the local grid infrastructure was inadequately protected to trap this event before it essentially entered a dead end circuit in my community.

If this is not the appropriate place for this matter, where would that place be?

Thank you
HankJS
 


las365

Senior Member
My contention is that this event was so massive and widespread that the local grid infrastructure was inadequately protected to trap this event before it essentially entered a dead end circuit in my community.
Okay, but I don't understand what your question is. If the utility company has immunity, then you can't sue it for whatever inadequacies may exist in the infrastructure.

I suppose you can make a claim against the at-fault driver's auto insurance. I doubt many people will think of that, maybe you'll get a recovery. But your homeowner's insurance is your proper and most likely effective avenue for recovery. It's a good thing yours covers damage from electricity! Last summer my old laptop computer was electrocuted and killed by a lightning strike and I was fortunate to have renter's insurance that provided coverage.
 

alnorth

Member
Wow, interesting case. If the law absolves the utility of liability in irregular delivery of electricity no matter the cause, you may be out of luck on that route unless you can prove that the design of the electrical grid was horribly negligent, and if you make that arguement the utility is going to bring up all kinds of experts you'd have to refute all saying the design of the power grid was reasonable.

The driver is probably at fault, but if he only has $30k of insurance for damage to the electrical contents of ~500 homes, the claims are going to blow right through his limits. I would make the claim on your homeowners insurance and let your insurance company go after the driver. If they get their money back from the driver (doubtful unless he has assets or an umbrella policy), youll get your deductible back.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
You are misunderstanding how the electrical grid works if you think they can or will take an effort to prevent such a situation again.

Why don;t you tell me how they may have prevented this and I will tell you why it won;t work or why it is not required by the power company.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
I know nothing about power lines but I don't see how they should have been expected to plan for something as unexpected as a car hitting a utility pole hard enough to cause a massive power surge. I'd put it on the homeowners to insure themselves against electrical problems....what a strange thing to exclude from a policy!
 

HankJS

Junior Member
You are misunderstanding how the electrical grid works if you think they can or will take an effort to prevent such a situation again.

Why don;t you tell me how they may have prevented this and I will tell you why it won;t work or why it is not required by the power company.
I have rudimentary knowledge of grids and understand that the primary safeguards on the grid are to protect the integrity of the grid and it's just incidental if the customer gets any benefit.

There was only one layer of protection between the accident and the neighborhood grid in the form of manual reset circuit breakers. A close friend of mine watched the entire restoration process and said no one went to that pole to do anything before the power came back up. There's the possibility they may be thermal resets, but if they've been there since the start of the development, that would make them +30 years old.

HankJS
 

HankJS

Junior Member
Wow, interesting case. If the law absolves the utility of liability in irregular delivery of electricity no matter the cause, you may be out of luck on that route
Here's the tariff quoted:
"SECTION X - CONTINUITY OF SERVICE BY COMPANY
A. Company Liability
The Company does not guarantee continuous uninterrupted electric service and shall not be liable for any loss, cost, damage or expense to any person occasioned by any change in, interruption or phase reversal of the Company's electric service due to any cause beyond the reasonable control of the Company."


The only course of action here is "beyond the reasonable control of the Company." Can we assail that clause if the installation did not meet industry standards?

The state PSC has said I can request a hearing or investigation, but I have to bring ironclad evidence, having almost proved the case before the hearing goes forth. Both the PSC and the utility know I can't do that without expensive professional consultants.

HankJS
 

moburkes

Senior Member
I'm with the others. It is not their fault that a vehicle struck the pole, that pole struck another, and then the surge. I think the only recourse you have is your homeowner's insurance, if your deductible is low enough. I wouldn't expect to ever see reimbursement for the damage, since the damage to the utilities will eat up the majority of the property damage claim, based on %.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
This was NOT caused by the design of their system. This was caused by a driver running in to a utility pole. How do you think that it's under the utilities' "reasonable control"?
 

justalayman

Senior Member
I have rudimentary knowledge of grids and understand that the primary safeguards on the grid are to protect the integrity of the grid and it's just incidental if the customer gets any benefit.

There was only one layer of protection between the accident and the neighborhood grid in the form of manual reset circuit breakers. A close friend of mine watched the entire restoration process and said no one went to that pole to do anything before the power came back up. There's the possibility they may be thermal resets, but if they've been there since the start of the development, that would make them +30 years old.

HankJS
well, chances are there is more fusing than you realize. Every circuit is fused at some point. You have to also understand the theory and function of electricity and realize what a fuse does. It prevents overcurrent, not overvoltage, which is the primary cause of your damage. While there is a direct relationship between voltage and current in a circuit, the accident may not have caused a great enough current to open the circuit breakers that may have protected you.

You also need to understand that circuit breakers are typically not instantaneous unless there is an EXTREME amount of overcurrent, which there may not have been in your situation.

You also need to understand what cascading protection is. The POCO delivers very large amounts of power so their system is designed to protect against even greateer currents. What it takes to damage a house at the voltages you experienced is quite minimal.

Speaking of your house; why are you not blaming the manufacturer of YOUR electrical system. That is what should have tripped out but apparently didn;t.

I could go on for hours about theory and practical application and posit as to why what happened or didn't happen but in reality, the POCO did nothing wrong. Get PO'd at the car driver. THAT is the proximate cause of your damage, not the power company.
 

HankJS

Junior Member
This was NOT caused by the design of their system. This was caused by a driver running in to a utility pole. How do you think that it's under the utilities' "reasonable control"?
Yes, the vehicular accident is the cause.

So, here's what I've gleaned here so far:

1)The utility is protected by writ and not responsible, irregardless of the cause, for their product entering my home in a grossly uncontrolled rampage and despite countermeasures I may have had in place, destroyed personal property. From some of the damaged items I've seen from other people, it's just dumb luck there wasn't a dwelling fire.

2) The power grid's integrity is of more importance than public safety at each consumer's location

3) It doesn't matter if the utility had protection in place that was inadequate, had protection in place that didn't work or had no protection in place at all. Driver did it, sorry for your loss.

3) You're insured, so what the H...!

HankJS
 

HankJS

Junior Member
well, chances are there is more fusing than you realize. Every circuit is fused at some point. You have to also understand the theory and function of electricity and realize what a fuse does. It prevents overcurrent, not overvoltage, which is the primary cause of your damage.
This is absolutely true. And the reason why individual circuit breakers in my main panel didn't trip. The surge was a voltage assault. Where I had good surge protectors, the first spike opened the circuit and didn't let the second one through. The cheaper ones may have stopped the first surge, but became a pass-thru for the second. The grid dropped after the second surge.

HankJS
 

HankJS

Junior Member
Hank, let's cut to the chase.

Sue everyone.

Let the court sort it out.
Oh, I forgot to mention, the driver of the vehicle was 79. Her brakes failed just after a family member had done a service job on them.

Now, where does the blame go? :)

This whole scenario should have been written for that insurance company that says, "...life comes at you fast!" And the champaign cork knocks down the chimney on your new home or your son's robot kit lazerizes your car in the driveway.

I'm going now to finish my claims paperwork.

HankJS
 
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