93 Year Old WWII Vet Freezes to Death at Home...

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by dmg1969

Found this in a news story from KDKA...

Under the law, utilities can shut off your service for failing to pay your bills -- even in the winter.

There are exceptions -- for medical reasons, of course -- and here's a big exception.

From December 1st until March 31st, utilities cannot be shut off if your family income is below 250 percent of poverty.

That means for a couple, utilities cannot be shut off if family income is below $35,000 a year. For a family of four, there can be no winter shut-off if your family income is below $53,000.

35K cannot be 250% below poverty. And 53K sure the hell is not.

[lookout123]

Not 250% below. 250% of.

[Pie]

Look at his date of birth (in their records)? Some sort of logic loop like:
if ($Customer_Age > 70)
{
$action->Followup($family);
}

Now, really, was that so hard?

[glatt]

Originally Posted by lookout123

Why?

Utilities are not your standard business. They get special treatment. They have their wires all over land that they do not own. They are permitted a virtual monopoly to provide power (or gas) in a given area. They get that special treatment because they provide a critical service.

It should be part of the deal they have with us that they follow certain rules before turning off service for lack of payment.

If you are a landlord (and you know this) you have to follow certain rules before you evict someone. Why should it be any different for turning off someone's power when it's below freezing?

[lookout123]

How many months can you go without being shut off up there? In Arizona you can go a bit over 90 days before they put the warning tag on your door. The bright red 5 x 11 tag says "Please contact us to make arrangements and avoid loss of power". If there is no contact within a week the power is cut. It isn't a surprise when things get shut off.

[Undertoad]

When I've gotten shutoff notices from PECO/Exelon, they always have in big print the number you should call right away if there is anyone infirm in the house.

[dmg1969]

There's a lot we still would need to know. Did he have family close by? If so, why were they not in contact with him or otherwise helping him? Was he suffering from dementia? If so, that would explain his non-response to any shut-off notices.

[lookout123]

I agree dmg, but we're talking about one really unfortunate, bizarre example. if it wasn't rare, it wouldn't be worthy of a news story. people fall through the cracks sometimes. sad, but true. my point was simply that the company is not responsible for doing anything more than they did unless they were contacted for assistance.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by lookout123

I agree dmg, but we're talking about one really unfortunate, bizarre example. if it wasn't rare, it wouldn't be worthy of a news story. people fall through the cracks sometimes. sad, but true. my point was simply that the company is not responsible for doing anything more than they did unless they were contacted for assistance.

And my point is that they should be. If they followed the rules and this guy ended up dead, then the rules are bad and need to change.

[HungLikeJesus]

The utility didn't shut off the power, they installed a current limiter, which restricts the amount of power he could use.

A city utility worker had installed a "limiter" device to restrict the use of electricity at Schur's home on Jan. 13, Belleman said. The device limits power reaching a home and blows out like a fuse if consumption rises past a set level. Power is not restored until the device is reset.

[lookout123]

one man fell through the cracks and that means a whole company needs to change the way it does business?

[dmg1969]

Originally Posted by HungLikeJesus

The utility didn't shut off the power, they installed a current limiter, which restricts the amount of power he could use.

A limiter which shuts off the power if he surpasses the "allowed" useage of power. What is allowed? One space heater? Two space heaters? Hell, he could have been asleep when the limiter killed the power in turn killing him.

I agree that it is a bizarre example and one that fell through the cracks. However, how many times have we heard the phrase "if one innocent person is wrongly executed, it's one too many."? Now...I AM NOT saying he was executed by the electric company!!! I am just making the comparison...one slipping through the cracks like this is one too many. Especially someone this age. It's just terrible.

[lookout123]

"if one innocent person is wrongly executed, it's one too many."?

You're barking up the wrong tree with me on that one.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by dmg1969

However, how many times have we heard the phrase "if one innocent person is wrongly executed, it's one too many."? Now...I AM NOT saying he was executed by the electric company!!! I am just making the comparison...one slipping through the cracks like this is one too many. Especially someone this age. It's just terrible.

You can't be serious. We are about to enter the largest age of what is good for the greater masses and not for the individual. Those on the margins of the bell curve will be left off by design. Better get use to it.

[dmg1969]

Originally Posted by lookout123

You're barking up the wrong tree with me on that one.

It was just an example...I'm pro-capital punishment myself.