Elderly man freezes to death in home

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

Really sad, but I agree with Kevin, in that I don't know what could have been done. If he had any family, I would imagine they should have been checking on him, but who knows if the family is estranged, etc.

I went thru it with my grandmom (not the lack of heat...just the lack of empathy)....she had 2 sons who lived right around the corner from her but I came cross town to check in on her...I was the one who found her when she passed...long...loooonnng story.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

I went thru it with my grandmom (not the lack of heat...just the lack of empathy)....she had 2 sons who lived right around the corner from her but I came cross town to check in on her...I was the one who found her when she passed...long...loooonnng story.

That happens a lot; either the children don't want to deal with the hassle, or the elderly person wants to retain their independence and the children stop getting involved.

I took an elder law course last year (for a variety of personal reasons) taught by an elder law practitioner, and some of the stories we would hear were insane.

[AGDee]

It is supposed to allow enough electricity to run those things but if you use more than it's set for, it shuts down and all power goes out, even those essential things.

ETA (again): They did say that it can be re-set by the home owner, but nobody knew for sure if the man had been shown how to do that.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by AGDee

It is supposed to allow enough electricity to run those things but if you use more than it's set for, it shuts down and all power goes out, even those essential things.

EEXXXXXXXAAACTLY.....and once it's gone it was easy to see why this poor fellow froze to death

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

EEXXXXXXXAAACTLY.....and once it's gone it was easy to see why this poor fellow froze to death

You realize that it was only your reading comprehension that ever had this in doubt?

It appears everyone else understood that limiter overload equaled no heat. And please remember that you were the one who suggested that information was in the article that clearly wasn't.

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

The limiter is explained in the article.

[Munchkin03]

I thought most utility providers had a special program, or at least some sort of forbearance, for people who were elderly, infirm, or who always needed electricity/running water/etc. Basically, ConEd can't turn off someone's power if they are elderly, have babies, or have an illness that requires electricity. I figured most places would have it as well.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

I thought most utility providers had a special program, or at least some sort of forbearance, for people who were elderly, infirm, or who always needed electricity/running water/etc. Basically, ConEd can't turn off someone's power if they are elderly, have babies, or have an illness that requires electricity. I figured most places would have it as well.

My guess, and of course I don't know, is that the limiter is supposed to be a way around this. You could get "essential" power, but not more. The issue seems to be that with weather this cold, the heat couldn't work without exceeding the amount of limited power.

Honestly, I don't know how I feel about a blanket policy about not cutting off power. I'd be all about requiring a percentage of profits being set aside for assisting those in need, but what seems to sometimes happen (and I'm thinking Atlanta water company here) is that once some customers learn that the utility won't actually be cut off for non-payment, they basically don't pay again for a really long time if ever. (This is kind of a bad example for this particular thread but this covers some corporate clients who went years late:http://www.ajc.com/services/content/...rrisbrown.html)

ETA: sure, the number of people who will meet the criteria you outlined is probably pretty limited, but it seems that there's a better way of dealing with the whole issue rather than just saying certain folks are exempt from getting the utilities cut off.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

I thought most utility providers had a special program, or at least some sort of forbearance, for people who were elderly, infirm, or who always needed electricity/running water/etc. Basically, ConEd can't turn off someone's power if they are elderly, have babies, or have an illness that requires electricity. I figured most places would have it as well.

most places do, but think of how many people slip thru the cracks because for some reason or another they don't or are unable to utilize these resources.