Special Fee Shifting Statutes: Utility Properly Awarded $82,000 In Costs And Attorney’s Fees In A Case Alleging Defendant Knowingly Diverted Electrical Power To Support A Cannabis Grow Operation

Civil Code Section 1882.2 Was The Fee Entitlement Predicate For The Award.

               Civil Code sections 1882.1 and 1882.2 allow a utility to obtain compensatory damages, trebles damages, and costs/reasonable attorney’s fees against a party who commits or aids and abets a diversion of utility services by any means whatsoever.  (§ 1882.2 is the specific costs and fee shifting statute.)

               Defendant, in Sacramento Municipal Utility Dist. v. Kwan, Case No. C097382 (3d Dist. Apr. 30, 2024) (published), was found to be liable to a utility for knowingly diverting electrical power without paying for it in connection with a cannabis grow operation, with the merits judgment affirmed on appeal.  The compensatory damages award, after trebling, was $82,661.13.  The costs of suit and attorney’s fees award was $82,000, which stood up after the merits determination was determined against defendant.  The moral here, in line with our Mission Statement, is that attorney’s fees are “the tail that wags the dog in litigation."  Deane Gardenhome Assn. v. Dentkas, 13 Cal.App.4th 1394, 1399 (1993).