Hoffman v. Northern States Power Co., No. A06-2275.

Citation764 N.W.2d 34
Decision Date16 April 2009
Docket NumberNo. A06-2275.
PartiesIrene HOFFMAN, et al., Appellants, v. NORTHERN STATES POWER COMPANY, d/b/a Xcel Energy, Respondent.
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota (US)

Vincent J. Esades, Lori A. Johnson, Scott W. Carlson, Heins Mills & Olson, P.L.C., Minneapolis, MN; and C. Andrews Waters, Charles S. Siegel, Waters & Kraus, LLP, Dallas, TX; and Mark R. Stanley, Roger L. Mandel, Martin Woodward, Stanley, Mandel & Iola, L.L.P., Dallas, TX; and Jay E. Stuemke, Simon Eddins & Greenstone LLP, Dallas, TX, for appellants.

Timothy Thornton, Kevin M. Decker, Jonathan P. Schmidt, Briggs and Morgan, P.A., Minneapolis, MN, for respondent.

Lori Swanson, Attorney General, Karen D. Olson, Ronald M. Giteck, William T. Stamets, Assistant Attorneys General, St. Paul, MN, for amicus curiae Office of the Minnesota Attorney General—Residential and Small Business Utilities Division.

Lori Swanson, Attorney General, Alison C. Archer, Assistant Attorney General, St. Paul, MN, for amicus curiae Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.

David M. Cialkowski, Zimmerman Reed P.L.L.P., Minneapolis, MN; and Hart L. Rabinovitch, Zimmerman Reed P.L.L.P., Scottsdale, AZ; and Stephen Gardner, National Consumer Law Center, Dallas, TX, for amicus curiae National Association of Consumer Advocates.

OPINION

GILDEA, Justice.

Respondent Northern States Power Company ("NSP") supplies appellants Irene and David Hoffman (Minnesota), Jerry Ustanko (North Dakota), and Mulugeta Endayehu (South Dakota) with electrical power.1 Appellants initiated a breach of contract action against NSP alleging that NSP failed to inspect and maintain the point of connection between NSP's service facilities and each customer's electrical equipment. Appellants argued that the filed tariff required the inspection and maintenance. Appellants demanded relief in the form of compensatory damages and either specific performance or an injunction to require NSP to perform what they alleged to be its tariff obligations. The district court denied NSP's motion for judgment on the pleadings and certified two questions to the court of appeals regarding whether the filed rate doctrine or the primary jurisdiction doctrine precluded the district court from adjudicating the action. The court of appeals held that the filed rate doctrine barred all of appellants' claims, Hoffman v. N. States Power Co., 743 N.W.2d 751, 756 (Minn.App.2008), and we granted appellants' petition for further review.

We conclude that the filed rate doctrine applies to claims challenging the reasonableness of a rate the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission ("MPUC") has established for an electrical utility, and that the doctrine does not bar the claim for injunctive relief, but it does bar appellants' claim for compensatory damages. We further conclude that under the doctrine of primary jurisdiction, the district court should have referred appellants' claim for injunctive relief to the MPUC. Finally, we reverse the court of appeals' dismissal of claims brought by non-Minnesota residents and remand those claims for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

According to the complaint, NSP's wires connect to each customer's wires within a meter box, usually attached to the side of the customer's home. NSP sets up the meter box by attaching the utility's wires to grooved channels with brass lugs, which allows electricity to flow through the meter to the customer's wires. NSP then seals or locks the meter box, preventing customers from gaining access to its contents. The complaint alleges that the brass lugs within the box loosen and may corrode over time. These changes, according to the complaint, increase the electrical resistance at the connection site, generate heat, and create a fire hazard. Appellants contend that inspections, along with cleaning and tightening the connection sites as needed, would prevent the dangerous condition. The complaint does not allege that any of customers in the proposed class have been the victim of any particular fire. Nor does the complaint allege that any NSP customer has engaged a third party to perform the inspection and maintenance services.

The services that NSP is obligated to perform for Minnesota customers are set forth under the tariff that NSP files with the MPUC.2 As a public utility, NSP is a regulated monopoly under Minn.Stat. ch. 216B (2008). Thus, NSP files its tariffs with regulatory agencies in each state in which it operates, and the tariffs govern the terms of the legal relationship between NSP and its customers. See, e.g., Minn. Stat. § 216B.05 (2008).

The complaint alleges that two separate provisions of the NSP tariff require NSP to inspect and maintain "the point of connection" between the company's wires and the customer's wires. The complaint first points to the tariff section titled "Service Connections," which provides for maintenance of NSP's equipment:

The customer, without expense to the Company, will grant the Company right-of-way on his premises for the installation and maintenance of the necessary distribution lines, service conductors, and appurtenances, and will provide and maintain on the premises, at a location satisfactory to the company, proper space for the Company's transformers, metering equipment, and appurtenances.

The service conductors as installed by the company from the distribution line to the point of connection with the customer's service entrance conductors will be the Company's property and will be maintained by the Company at its own expense.

The customer will provide for the safekeeping of the Company's meters and other facilities and reimburse the Company for the cost of any alterations to the Company's lines, meters, or other facilities necessitated by customer and for any loss or damage to the Company's property located on the premises. The exception is when such loss or damage is occasioned by the Company's negligence or causes beyond control of the customer.

Northern States Power Company Tariff, General Rules and Regulations § 5.5 (1998) [NSP Tariff].

The complaint further points to the tariff provision governing the "Customer's Wiring, Equipment, and Property." This provision makes the customer responsible for maintaining certain pieces of equipment but exempts the customer from responsibility for maintaining "metering equipment":

All wiring and equipment on customer's side of the point of connection, except metering equipment, will be furnished, installed, and maintained at the customer's expense in a manner approved by the public authorities having jurisdiction over the same.

Customer will protect all electrical equipment and systems with devices that conform to the industry accepted standard for the various classes of electrical equipment and systems to prevent fire or damage to equipment from electrical disturbances or fault occurring in the customer's system or in the supplying system. The "industry accepted standard" will be as required in the National Electric Code and such additional devices as are prescribed by any public authority with jurisdiction over the installation of all electrical facilities.

Any inspection of a customer's wiring and equipment by the Company is for the purpose of avoiding unnecessary interruptions of service to its customers or damage to its property and for no other purpose, and will not be construed to impose any liability upon the Company to a customer or any other person by reason thereof. In addition, the Company will not be liable or responsible for any loss, injury, or damage that may result from the use of or defects in a customer's wiring or equipment.

The Company may, however, at any time require a customer to make such changes in his electrical or nonelectrical property or use thereof as may be necessary to eliminate any hazardous condition or any adverse effect which the operation of the customer's property or equipment may have on said customer, other customers of the Company, the public, or the Company's employees, equipment or service. In lieu of changes by the customer, the Company may require reimbursement from the customer for the cost incurred by the Company in alleviating an adverse effect on the Company's facilities caused by the customer's property.

The transformers, service conductors, meters, and appurtenances used in furnishing electric service to a customer have a definite capacity. Therefore, no material increase in load or equipment will be made without first making arrangements with the Company for the additional electrical supply.

Id. § 4.2.

Based on these tariff provisions, the complaint alleges a general obligation for NSP to inspect and maintain "points of connection." The tariff does not otherwise define a point of connection, but the complaint provides a varied list of equipment that might comprise the components of a point of connection. Specifically, the complaint states that NSP is to inspect and maintain: "its electrical wiring and equipment up through and including the connection between its wires and the customer's wires located within the meter box"; "its service facilities"; "the actual point of connection of its facilities to customers' equipment"; and "the connections which comprise the point of connection between its and its customers' service conductors." Appellants allege that NSP is in material breach of its inspection and maintenance obligations, and that the breach caused them damages in the amount of the fair market value for services not received over a six-year period. Because the tariff remains in effect, the complaint also demands specific performance and injunctive relief to cause NSP to comply with the tariff.

NSP moved the district court for judgment on the pleadings under Minn. R. Civ. P. 12.03. NSP argued that the filed rate doctrine bars appellants' claims, or, in the alternative, that the claims should be referred to the MPUC under the primary jurisdiction doctrine. NSP additionally argued that ...

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