Pierce v. Pacific Gas & Electric Co

In Pierce v. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (1985) 166 Cal. App. 3d 68, the appellate court concluded that a commercial supplier of electricity is subject to strict liability in tort for personal injuries caused by delivery of electricity at dangerously high voltage resulting from defects in a transformer. The facts were that due to a transformer malfunction, the defendant utility's electricity arrived at the plaintiff's home at nearly 60 times its intended voltage, ultimately causing the plaintiff to suffer bodily injury. ( Id. at p. 77.) However, the court noted that the utility defendant (PG&E) was not the manufacturer of the defective transformer, which some other electric company had made, such that the defendant PG&E "never placed the transformer 'on the market' or in the stream of commerce. PG&E was, in essence, a consumer rather than a manufacturer of the transformer, and cannot be held strictly liable in tort for the transformer's defects per se. " ( Id. at p. 76.) However, the appellate court concluded that since the product, electricity, was delivered to the plaintiff's home by way of the defective transformer, and arrived at a harmful level of voltage and injured the plaintiff, it was error to grant a nonsuit in favor of the defendant utility, as a cause of action for strict liability in tort existed and personal injuries were shown. It did not make any difference that the utility could not be held strictly liable in tort for the transformer's defects "per se," as the subject product, electricity, harmed plaintiff anyway. ( Id. at pp. 77, 84.) However, the court did not directly identify whether a manufacturing or design defect was shown, as to the electricity itself.