This story is similar to that of a Missouri dairyman in 2006, as well as the Twin Falls judgment against Idaho Power in 2004 for $17.5 million http://www.strayvoltage.ca/Legal%20New-Mac%20Electric.htm
Farmer accuses PacificCorp of defective equipment, misrepresentation
Mateusz Perkowski Capital Press April 16, 2009 http://www.capitalpress.com/main.asp?SectionID=106&SubSectionID=782&ArticleID=50528&TM=60670.11
A Washington state dairy farmer is suing PacifiCorp, alleging the power company allowed errant electrical currents to harm his cattle.
Tom Van Ruiten, a farmer in Yakima County, Wash., alleges the utility's distribution line to the dairy was "defective, faulty and antiquated," causing electrical currents to course through the dairy, endangering his herd of 2,100 cows.
Van Ruiten claims PacifiCorp attempted to fix the distribution line in 2006, but incorrectly installed equipment that would have prevented the unwanted discharges. . .
An electrical engineer's investigation indicated PacifiCorp's distribution line was the source of the electrical defect, he said.
PacifiCorp does not comment on pending litigation, according to a spokesman for the company.
Electrical malfunctions known as "stray voltage" were first identified as a culprit in poor dairy production about 40 years ago, according to Douglas Reinemann, professor of biological systems engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Cattle are sensitive to electricity, even at levels as low as a single volt, according to one of Reinemann's reports about stray voltage.
When cattle experience even slight electrical shock while being milked, it stresses them and lowers production, he said. If stray electrical currents course through water, the animals will limit their consumption of it, (University of Florida extension dairy specialist Dave) Bray said.
"If they don't drink much water, they won't produce much milk," he said. Stray voltage can also contribute to udder irritation and mastitis, according to Bray. . .
The prevalence of stray voltage has decreased significantly in the past two decades, said Ned Zaugg, dairy extension specialist at Washington State University. "It used to be quite common in the older milking facilities," Zaugg said. Improvements to dairy equipment during the 1980s and 1990s helped resolve many stray voltage issues, he said.
Internal electrical malfunctions are usually at fault, but deficient power deliveries have also been known to cause stray voltage, Zaugg said.
"There are cases that have merit," he said.
