Who can US lawyers sue for business losses incurred in the power blackout that plunged much of the US east coast into darkness two weeks ago? Insurance companies have already said they don’t expect many sizeable claims, because most commercial policies exclude power outages.

According to Reactions magazine, lawyers are looking at the power companies and their insurance policies. Insurance Information Institute Chief Economist Robert Hartwig says  errors and omissions policies could be claimed against, although “the plaintiff would have to demonstrate wanton negligence on the part of the defendant”.

Therefore, if the cause of the outage was human error, the E&O policy wouldn’t apply, Reactions said. The cause of the outage, which left about 30 million people without power for about 24 hours, has not been established, and reports suggest it will be months until a cause is found.