proof times are tough.... very very sad.

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

I am certain to take alot of guff for this one but I take exception to the business model of power transmission. Once upon a time things that were considered essential like power - were considered rights. Like in many countries health care is considered a right.

Yes, there are social service systems out there, but they cannot reach everyone and many are hard to find on your own. And many now have faced severe budget shortfalls of their own.

Yes, we should be taking care of each other neighbor to neighbor, friend to friend. But why can't that extend to an understanding of giving at a larger level? Why do we scream when asked to allow the government to cover such issues? Why are we so afraid that we'll help some one that doesn't deserve our help that we allow people who are in true need to die?

The laws allowing power companies to turn off power are not that old. Anyone can show you stats showing how the fire deaths alone since those laws were passed have skyrocketed. The loudest voices protesting those laws when they passed was the fire department and EMS personnel because they knew what would happen. In Philadelphia alone the fire related deaths THIS YEAR, only 27 days into it, are more than half of the number of people that died in all of last year.

 

[MissPrissy]

When has electricity ever been considered a 'right'?

Sorry, it is not a right. Thousands upon thousands of people live right now without electricity in the US and millions across the world.

Electricty is a luxury. A luxury that has to be paid for.

Do I like having electricity? You betcha! It makes my life very convenient.

Can I live without it? Yes, I can. So can many others.

It wasn't that many years ago when rural electricity came to the country. My house wasn't on the power grid until after 1939. Imagine that.

The same way people have gotten too far away from their food resources they have gotten away from being self sufficient in many areas of their life.

 

[sussexgal]

Quote:
The article I read on MSN yesterday afternoon said that when emergency people entered the home they found his utility bills on his kitchen table with the money to pay each paperclipped to the bills. He had the means, not the way. I agree with BuckeyeLady.... we need to be aware of folks around us.... a nightly check in phone call may have made all the difference in this man's life.

Sometimes folks don't know what help is available to them or even that there is help available at all.... or where to start to get help.

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Electricity was considered something "necessary." There were huge numbers of federal and state controls on pricing and disconnection. One key to that as was mentioned earlier was that if your service was disconnected they could only charge you what you owed to reconnect. Now they ask for three times as much as you owed making it all the harder for people to get it back.

Yes, much of the world lives without electricity. And many of us BYCers are perfectly capable of managing without. BUT, most of America's urban dwellers are not. They have no fireplaces, no means of warming their homes. It is as bad as taking a domestic dog and throwing it out in the country thinking it will be fine if let to go wild.

Here is documentation of the utter failure of electricity deregulation.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1997/09/29/232074/index.htm

http://www.cato.org/pubs/handbook/hb105-40.html

http://www.portfolio.com/views/blog...electricity-deregulation-sends-prices-soaring

http://pulpnetwork.blogspot.com/2007/10/new-york-restructuring-it-was-about.html

http://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...serid=10&md5=f2c97217224d9f0e8a1c9821e67c5cdb

 

[jab91864]

I agree with many of the things said on this topic. Actually on both "sides" of the discussion. But we all agree it is a shame either way.

There but for the grace of God go I...................

Julie

 

[Birch Run Farm]

Quote:
I also pay extra with my power co-op to help pay for someone in need. Most companies offer such a program, if they don't they should. A couple bucks extra a month from all of us isn't a big deal for the most part. I have participated all of my adult life and still do so even in these very trying times. I live in one of the most expensive states in the nation and am suffering as bad as most.

No one should die this way. That company should be held responsible.

 

[Rhett&SarahsMom]

I read that yesterday and got so angry. Maybe "electricity" is a luxury. But heat during the winter, is not.

When I live din NC one of my friends was an elderly man. Between 2 other friends and myself we made sure he had what he needed. One of us did his bank stuff, I made sure he took his medications and the other made sure he had food and such.

 

[conny63malies]

Last year a old lady died on her front steps trying to get back in her house. She had cut herself on a broken glass window and was bleeding . She called for help and neighbors heard something and called police. THey came but never got their hinny out the car.
Here is the story
http://www.vindy.com/news/2008/may/01/death-sparks-talk-of-program/

 

[Blue Skys]

That is very sad, but why do people have to place blame on anyone. Honestly maybe it was just his time to go, everyone has their time. I'm not saying the situation is not very sad.

On another note, I read an article the other day that I can't find now to post the link, but it noted a connection to obesity and air conditioning. It takes a lot of energy to regulate our body temperatures, but with modern conveniences, our bodies no longer have to work so hard to maintain a regular body temperature, at the same time, our bodies are "forgetting" how to regulate. These so called conveniences are really messing with natures way of things.

 

[AussieSharon]

Sorry I don't think it was just his "time to go"
I hope to dear God that my elderly Grandfather doesn't go by freezing to death. Nobody deserves to die that way.

I also agree with MP. It's a shame that people don't help each other out more. It would be wonderful if neighbors helped each other.