論公用電力事業「服務義務」與停電賠償責任：以供電契約為中心

The Duty to Serveof Electric Utilities and Liability of Compensation for Power Outages: on the Electricity Supply Contract

公用電力事業「服務義務」之內涵，包括「充分服務」及「可靠服務」，20世紀80年代以來，電力可靠度問題更是首要。如此並非要求絕對不可發生停電情形，但公用電力事業與用戶之間存在供電契約，公用事業仍負有與其經營業務特許權對應的法律義務，除按管制費率計價收費外，對於正常業務過程、履行公共服務，應盡善良管理人注意義務，防止供電中斷對用戶造成損害，且不得以「責任限制條款」排除故意或重大過失責任。在獨占的電力市場上，消費者無法選擇電力事業，故法制上應透過有效的問責制度加以平衡。制度目的並非係對公用事業施加經濟處罰，而是做為更強化的一種預防措施，冀望公用事業能落實謹慎管理，增進表現穩定度。民事損害賠償亦是近年重要的問責方法之一，除扣減退還停電期間無法提供服務的基本電費外，於電力事業有過失的特定要件下應賠償用戶，至少部分反映用戶因中斷而遭受的損害或不便。我國相關法令應明訂可歸責公用事業停電事由之賠償責任及賠償上限，並在公用事業或其履行輔助人有故意或重大過失時，不適用賠償限額規定。

The electric utility’s duty to serve is to provide adequate and reliable services. Since the 1980s, electric reliability has become the primary duty. However, this cannot be interpreted as requiring service to customers under all circumstances, and power outages should never occur. There is an electricity supply contract between utilities and customers, and based on the contract, utilities have legal obligations corresponding to their exclusive franchise. In addition to complying with tariffs, utilities should perform reasonable care in the regular course of their business or where a public interest is involved to prevent interruptions causing damage to customers. The liability indemnity clause of the contract cannot apply where the utility is willful or grossly negligent. In the monopolized electricity market, consumers cannot choose electricity enterprise, so legal obligations are deemed necessary in order to maintain the balance of accountability that ordinarily would occur from competition. The purpose of the legislation is not to impose financial penalties on utilities, but as a preventive measure to enable utilities to implement prudent management and improve performance stability. Compensation for damages is one of the important accountability methods in recent years. Utilities shall reimburse the basic charge in proportion to the duration of outage when the service cannot be provided; moreover, utilities should compensate customers reflecting, at least in part, the damage or inconvenience they suffered because of an outage when the utility is held responsible for its faults. Following these lines of thought, this article suggests that related laws and regulations should clearly distinguish the utilities with faults and the limit of compensation, from willful or grossly negligent which cannot apply “the filed rate doctrine.” Finally, customers should plan or at least take measures based on their activity and the field under control to mitigate their own damages in the event of blackout. If customers have negligently contributed in causing or aggravating the injury, the court may reduce or release the amount of the compensation according to Article 217 of the Civil Law (the principle of contributory negligence).