Ravenwood - 06/27/05 06:45 AM
Here's a lawsuit waiting to happen.
An 86-year-old man with emphysema died minutes after Lakeland Electric cut off electricity to his son's home in the Polk County community of Kathleen.John Howerton needed power to operate his oxygen machine. The utility cut off power over a disputed bill June 14. Richard Howerton had brought his terminally ill father home from a nursing home the day before.
When the power went off, the son scrambled to hook up a battery-operated machine. But it wasn't powerful enough to force oxygen into his father's lungs.
Richard Howerton's wife says she paid the electric bill on the Internet two days before her father-in-law died. A computer message said the payment would be posted in two days. It took four.
Sounds more like a massive cash settlement to me.
Posted by: Bruce at June 27, 2005 7:21 AMThey don't cut you off until you've been a pain in the ass for quite a while, as far as I know.
The closer you are to a final cutoff, the more risky it is to bring home your terminally ill father.
Posted by: Ron Hardin at June 27, 2005 8:16 AMAside from that, you always have to operate as if the power will go off ; because any old storm can take it out for many hours.
Posted by: Ron Hardin at June 27, 2005 8:18 AMYeah, but a storm is an act of God. Having it shut off manually was an act of bad credit.
Posted by: Ravenwood at June 27, 2005 8:31 AMSo bad planning on THEIR part leads to the death of popsie?
Fair trade I say.
"Hi you haven't paid your bills, therefore we are cutting your service".
But my father will die!
"All the more reason to pay your bills in the future."
Posted by: Yogimus at June 28, 2005 1:35 AMIf you don't pay for a service, you have no right to complain when that service is not provided to you. That's horrible that a man died because of it but it's in no way the utility companies fault.
Posted by: Wesley at June 28, 2005 3:24 PM(c) Ravenwood and Associates, 1990 - 2014
