The plaintiff is claiming damages from the defendant due to overvoltage damage. The defendant operates a municipal power grid and makes it available to electricity producers (feeders) and consumers. For this purpose, it also performs transformations to a different voltage level (low voltage, approx. 230 volts).
Following a power supply disruption in the plaintiff's residential area, an overvoltage occurred in his household grid after a power outage, damaging several electrical appliances and the heating system. The cause of the overvoltage was the interruption of two so-called PEN conductors (protective earth neutral) near the plaintiff's house, through which his house was connected to the earthing system.
The Local Court dismissed the action seeking compensation for the incurred damage. Upon the plaintiff's appeal, the Regional Court granted the claim, deducting the deductible of €500 in accordance with Section 11 of the Product Liability Act (ProdHaftG). The Sixth Civil Senate of the Federal Court of Justice, responsible inter alia for legal disputes concerning claims under the Product Liability Act, rejected the defendant's appeal on points of law, which had been permitted by the Regional Court.
The defendant is liable based on strict (risk-based) liability under Section 1 para. 1 ProdHaftG. According to Section 2 ProdHaftG, electricity, in addition to movable property, is a product within the meaning of this Act. Due to the overvoltage, the electricity exhibited a defect as per Section 3 para. 1 ProdHaftG, which caused damage to the plaintiff's electrical appliances and heating system, i.e., typical consumer devices. Consumers are not expected to anticipate such excessive voltage fluctuations. The defendant network operator is also to be considered the manufacturer of the defective product, electricity, according to Section 4 para. 1 sentence 1 ProdHaftG. This is because it performs transformations to a different voltage level, namely the so-called low voltage for the grid connections of end consumers. In this case, the characteristic of electricity as a product is fundamentally altered by the grid operator, as it is only usable by the end consumer with typical consumer devices after this transformation. A product defect also existed at the time it was placed on the market (Section 1 para. 2 No. 2 ProdHaftG), because the placing of electricity as a product on the market only occurs with the network operator's delivery via the grid connection to the connected user.
Judgment of the Federal Court of Justice of February 25, 2014 – VI ZR 144/13
Lower Courts:
Local Court Wuppertal – Judgment of February 21, 2012 – 39 C 291/10
Regional Court Wuppertal – Judgment of March 5, 2013 – 16 S 15/12
Source: Press Release of the Federal Court of Justice
Goldberg Attorneys at Law 2014
Attorney Michael Ullrich, LL.M. (Information Law)
Specialist Attorney for Information Technology Law
Email: info@goldberg.de
