## Facts

- Singer operated a computer-dependent business that required continuous electrical power.
- Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. (BGE), a regulated public utility, supplied Singer electricity through an underground high-voltage “primary” cable.
- Singer experienced power outages and fluctuations allegedly caused by a defective underground primary cable owned and maintained by BGE.
- Singer claimed the interruptions caused operational disruption and economic loss.
- Singer asserted multiple theories, including UCC Article 2 implied warranty claims, which depended on whether the electricity at issue qualified as “goods” under Maryland’s UCC definition.

## Issues

1. Whether electricity transmitted at high voltage through a utility’s underground primary cable, before transformation and customer delivery, constitutes “goods” under UCC Article 2, making implied warranties available.
2. Whether summary judgment was proper where the dispute turned on that legal characterization.

## Decision

- The court affirmed summary judgment for BGE on Singer’s UCC claims.
- The court held that the electricity at issue—high-voltage electricity in the utility’s primary transmission system prior to transformation and delivery—was not “goods” under UCC § 2-105(1) as enacted in Maryland.
- Because the electricity was not a UCC “good,” UCC Article 2 implied warranties did not apply, and Singer’s warranty claims failed as a matter of law.
- The court found no genuine dispute of material fact on the relevant point (the stage of transmission involved); the dispositive question was legal.

## Legal Principles

- UCC Article 2 applies only to transactions in “goods,” defined as movable things identifiable to the contract at the time of identification.  
- Electricity in a utility’s high-voltage transmission stage, unmetered and within the utility’s delivery system, is not “goods” for Article 2 purposes in this context.
- Claims premised on failures in the utility’s delivery infrastructure are treated as involving utility service obligations rather than defects in a sold commodity under Article 2.
- Summary judgment is appropriate when material facts are undisputed and the controlling issue is a question of law.

## Conclusion

The court held that high-voltage electricity moving through a utility’s primary cable before transformation and customer delivery is outside UCC Article 2’s “goods” category; therefore, implied warranty claims against the utility based on outages attributed to the transmission cable were properly dismissed on summary judgment.


Singer Co. v. Balt. Gas & Elec. Co., 79 Md. App. 461, 558 A.2d 419 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 1989)