问题请教: Losses caused by faulty Utility Co Facility

a few weeks ago, my oven, the A/C unit, 2 of my computers and some other electronic deveices in my house suddenly smoked and fried, the alarm was sounding, and I also felt an electric shock when I touched the faucet in the shower.

I called an electrician, and he came the next day. He spent about an hour to troubleshoot and concluded that the problem was caused by the electricity lines coming into my house. Apparently the neutral line was broken.

So I called utility company who is responsible to distribute the electicity to my house. The utility company repair crew confirmed that neutral line was broken/disconnected inside the transformer connecting to my house, the damages in my house were caused by the lost of the neutral line, which caused a sudden power surge, and the normally 110 volt line could become 180 volts to 240 volts.

But the utility company rejected my cliam, saying the State Tarrif regulating the electricity industry says that the utility companies normally will not be responsible for the damages to the electronc devices in residents due to the voltage 'fluctuation', and the customers should use power surge protectors to protect their properties.

However, after I study the State Tarrif, I still believe that the utility company should be responsible for my losses. The Tariff indicated that “if damages result from fluctuations or interruptions in Delivery Service that are caused by Company’s or Retail Customer’s gross negligence or misconduct, this Tariff should not preclude recovery of appropriate damages when legally due”. Obviously, my losses are the direct result of the failure of making properly maintenance of the delivery facilities, the transformer, by the utility company, so I believe that the utility company is responsible for my losses caused by this incident.

I will probably swallow the loss and move on if the damages are not significant. However, initial estimate for the loss is around $6,000+.

So my question here is:

are there any options available to me if the utility company insists that they are not responsible? should i file a claim in a small court? any chance I can win the case if I have to hire a laywer?

Thank you all in advanced!

所有跟帖： 

• 回复：问题请教: Losses caused by faulty Utility Co Facility -單身老貓- ♂ (643 bytes) () 01/21/2009 postreply 15:25:08

• 谢谢版主的建议。详情见内： -鱼美人- ♂ (757 bytes) () 01/21/2009 postreply 20:44:52

• 回复：问题请教: Losses caused by faulty Utility Co Facility -單身老貓- ♂ (7457 bytes) () 01/22/2009 postreply 08:44:03