Environmental & Energy,
California Courts of Appeal
Nov. 24, 2020
Public utility not exempt from liability, 2-1 panel says
“Although it is called a public utility, it is a private business, entitled to no more immunity from liability than any ordinary private business,” said the majority 2nd District Court of Appeal panel ruling.
An appeals court majority ruled that a pipeline company qualified as a public utility, but should not be protected from certain liabilities for a rupture that flooded the Santa Barbara County coastline with oil in 2015. The dissenting justice said the decision casts doubt on more than a century of cases.
The California State Lands Commission is seeking royalty payments from Plains All American pipeline company because the spill depri...
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Related Content
Torts
State Lands Commission v. Plains Pipeline, L.P.
Plaintiff was not entitled to immunity from liability as public utility because it does not deliver essential municipal services to members of the general public.