Foundations and Examples of Civil Liability of Electricity Supply Institutionsin Iranian and American Law

The present research, using the qualitative method and analytical-descriptive method, aims to performance a comparative study and explain the foundations and examples of the civil responsibility of electricity supply institutions. The findings of this research show that the civil liability of the mentioned institutions in Iran and America in the stages of production and transmission is considered as "Sovereign Acts" and in the stage of distribution among subscribers and consumers is considered as "Employee Acts"; In addition, the civil liability of the electricity supplier entities is "Contractual and Non-Contractual" in nature, and both Iranian and American legal systems consider the civil liability of the electricity supplier entity in the production phase, which is a liability based on the contract; with the difference that the basis of responsibility is different in these two legal systems; As in Iranian law, this responsibility is based on "Fault" and claimable damages resulting from the violation of contractual obligations are subject to the specification of the parties, custom or law; But in American law, the basis for establishing the contractual liability of the aforementioned entities is "Pure Liability" or liability without fault, and the liability of these entities is established solely based on the breach of obligation; Therefore, in this legal system, as soon as a breach of contractual obligations is established, regardless of the reason for the breach or fault, the obligee is responsible for compensation. In the stage of electricity distribution, in Iran's legal system, it is possible to point out the responsibility resulting from the lack of care and maintenance of the facilities and equipment for the transmission and distribution of electricity to the subscribers, as well as the responsibility resulting from negligence and failure to take preventive measures, which is the factor of "Fault" Civil liability plays a fundamental and key role for the aforementioned supplier institutions; But in the American legal system, one can find very limited cases in which civil liability can be proposed for the mentioned institutions at this stage, and basically it is very difficult to establish civil liability at this stage, and this is due to the mechanisms that exist in this country in In order to comply with electricity transmission and distribution standards, division of responsibility and the involvement of consumers and subscribers in possible damages are applied.