## Facts

- Scott Ussery towed a shrimp boat by truck to a dock on Tybee Island, Georgia.
- A metal stanchion on the boat contacted an overhead power line supplying electricity to the dock from Savannah Electric and Power Company.
- The contact energized the truck-and-boat combination; after Ussery exited the truck, current grounded through his body, killing him.
- At the time of the incident, the electricity had not yet passed through the dock’s electric meter.
- Savannah Electric had installed fuses on the line, but they did not blow during the incident.
- Tamarah Monroe, individually and as representative of Ussery’s estate, sued Savannah Electric asserting multiple theories, including strict products liability under O.C.G.A. § 51-1-11(b)(1).

## Issues

1. Whether electricity constitutes “personal property” (a “product”) under O.C.G.A. § 51-1-11(b)(1).
2. If electricity is a product, when it is “sold” for purposes of strict products liability—specifically, whether a sale occurred where the electricity had not yet passed through the customer’s meter.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Georgia held that electricity qualifies as “personal property” and therefore can be a “product” within O.C.G.A. § 51-1-11(b)(1).
- The court held that, for strict-liability purposes, electricity is not “sold” until it passes through the customer’s meter (or equivalent delivery point) into a usable, consumer-controlled form.
- Because the electricity involved had not yet passed through the meter, no statutory “sale” had occurred when the injury happened.
- The court affirmed partial summary judgment for Savannah Electric on the strict products-liability claim.

## Legal Principles

- Electricity may be treated as a “product” under Georgia’s strict products-liability statute, O.C.G.A. § 51-1-11(b)(1).
- Strict products liability under § 51-1-11(b)(1) requires a “sale” of “personal property sold as new property,” and the defect must exist “when sold.”
- For electricity, the “sale” occurs at the meter or equivalent point where electricity enters the consumer’s system in a usable form and under consumer control.
- Injuries caused by electricity in transmission before the meter are outside § 51-1-11(b)(1), even if other theories (such as negligence) may remain available.

## Conclusion

The court recognized electricity as a statutory “product” but limited strict products liability to electricity that has been delivered past the customer’s meter; because the fatal current had not yet been sold, strict liability did not apply and summary judgment on that claim was affirmed.


Monroe v. Savannah Elec. & Power Co., 267 Ga. 26, 471 S.E.2d 854 (Ga. 1996)