Jury Puts Jolt Into Power Company With $4M Award To Now-Foreclosed Homeowner Over Stray Electricity In Home That Utility Once Owned, Then Unloaded; Shocks Believed To Have Caused Nerve Damage In Victim's Hands, Feet

In Los Angeles, California, The Beach Reporter reports:

• A Redondo Beach woman repeatedly shocked in her home by stray electricity from nearby Southern California Edison power lines has been awarded $4 million by a Superior Court jury.(1)
  
  The verdict, reached Monday after a civil trial in downtown Los Angeles, included $3 million in punitive damages against the utility giant.
  
  Simona Wilson [the mother of three young children] filed a lawsuit against Edison in 2011 after she was shocked by stray electricity pulsing through her bathroom shower head. The repeated electrical shocks is believed to have caused nerve damage in Wilson's hands and feet. The jury found that Edison's conduct was "outrageous," that the company acted with "reckless disregard" and that the utility was "negligent," according to court documents.
  
  "We are thrilled," Wilson's attorney, Lars Johnson, said Tuesday. "Simona has been in a long fight, and Edison put her through a lot. "
  
  In a statement released by Edison on Tuesday, the company said it "is disappointed in the conclusions reached by the jury and believes that the outcome is inconsistent with the totality of the evidence presented at trial."
  
  "(Southern California Edison) is reviewing the verdict and will determine its options, including whether to file an appeal," the company added in its statement.

***

• Residents in the area have long complained about electricity emitting from overhead power lines and from the nearby Topaz Substation. Reports of crackling sounds coming from overhead wires and snaps of electricity when residents touched their mailboxes were common. Many believed the electrical current emitted from the substation traveled through subterranean gas pipes.

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• "(Edison) believes its response to the concerns raised by Wilson regarding her home located near SCE's Topaz Substation and its efforts to address those concerns were appropriate," the company said in a statement Tuesday. "The company also has cooperated fully with the investigation conducted by the Safety and Enforcement Division of the California Public Utilities Commission."
  
  Edison officials declined to offer further comment on the fixes it made to address Wilson's complaints.
  
  However, The Gas Co. began to make upgrades to its underground network of pipes around the Topaz Substation.
  
  "An official from The Gas Co. testified that they have been trying for years to get Edison to do something," Johnson said. "There is electricity jumping off the lines and into the ground," Johnson said. "The Gas Co. is worried about an explosion and they are also worried about their employees being shocked."

For the story, see Redondo Beach woman awarded $4 million in Edison lawsuit over stray electricity.

See also, the Mercury News: Stray electricity from shower head: Shocked California woman awarded $4 million:

• Wilson, who could not be reached for comment, moved out of her house in September 2011, after an inspector told her to "get out" immediately, Johnson said. She filed the lawsuit about the same time. She lost the home in a foreclosure in February, according to her attorney.
  
  Edison built the house in 1960, Johnson said. It was located next door to an Edison facility known as the Topaz Substation, and the utility rented the home to employees before selling it.
  
  A former Edison employee sent a letter to Johnson prior to the trial detailing complaints similar to Wilson's made by prior occupants of the house.

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• During the civil trial, one of Edison's expert witnesses testified that the electrical current residents felt was within "acceptable" levels.
  
  "Edison still denies that there is anything dangerous in the area and denies that they did anything wrong," Johnson said. Edison officials insist the company worked with Wilson to resolve any issues with stray electricity.

(1) For stories on the deadliness of stray electricity/voltage, see:

CBS Evening News: Shocking investigation on stray electricity:

• [L]uckily, most people who touch the metal don't make good enough contact to get seriously hurt. But if you're barefoot -- or wet -- the hazard can be deadly.
  
  It happened to 14-year-old Deanna Green in Baltimore in 2006. Her father Anthony says the ground was wet -- when Deanna touched a park fence at softball practice. Nobody knew it - but the fence was charged by frayed lighting wires buried underneath. 227 volts killed her instantly.
  
  "Never in a thousand years would you think that while you were there, and while your child was standing in front of you - you would lose her in such a manner," says Deanna's mother Nancy. "It's devastating."

South Jersey Times: Baltimore stray electricity: Settlement reached in electrocution death of South Jersey native's daughter:

• A settlement was finally reached between the city of Baltimore and a former Millville High School football star turned Baltimore Colt defensive tackle whose daughter was killed by a stray electric current running through a fence in a city-owned park.