Washington Water Power Co. v. Graybar Electric Co.

Washington Water Power Company (WWP) commenced this action in federal district court to recover damages incident to the failure of, and expected failure of, approximately 162,000 electric deadend insulators in use in WWP's electrical distribution system. Defendants are A.B. Chance Company (Chance), which manufactured the insulators between 1962 and 1984, and Gray-bar Electric Company (Graybar), the distributor from whom WWP purchased Chance insulators between 1973 and 1984. Construed in a light most favorable to WWP, the facts underlying the dispute are as follows.

The insulators are in place…