No, you can't get unlimited electric service for free

[Aria]

Speaking as someone who works for the cable company, they're not paying us either. We cut them off a bit faster, though, since no one can complain that lack of cable is fatal...

[Slave to the Phone]

But their kids will die if they don't get to watch their favorite shows. Won't anybody think about the children!!!

[WishfulSpirit]

Guess what. If you live in an apartment that doesn't have a padlock on the meter closet, and you get cut off, you can just head down to the laundry room and turn your power back on! All you have to do is flip every one until you find yours. Don't worry about destroying your neighbor's equipment or anything, a power surge is sure not to cause any trouble whatsoever.

[Sapphire Silk]

Well, I can understand the whole disabled thing, but the rest of us are SOL no matter what time of year it is.

Every now and then I get a bit forgetful about my bill. Two weeks after it's over due I get a phone call that if it's not paid by 5pm, my power will be turned off.

Cue frantic getting online to pay.

The issue for me is never money. It's just losing track of shit.

[notalwaysright]

The issue for me is never money. It's just losing track of shit.

If it isn't a money issue, have you looked at automatic payment? I know many people don't like the idea of it, but I personally LOVE it. I can only do it because my heat is included in rent (old building, natural gas heat, hot water, and range), so my electric bill is low. But anyway, auto payment is nice.

[eltf177]

Reminds me of a story I heard from an ex-coworker.

He was on a water crew and that municipality (like every other) would turn your water off at some point when you didn't pay. There was this one family living in an overcrowded house that never paid. So the water was shut off at the meter. Family turned it back on, you only need a wrench. Municipality turned it off again. Family turned it back on again. This went on several times, then the municipality put a lock on the shut-off valve. Family cut it and turned water back on. This went on several times.

Finally municipality had enough. Crew including ex-coworker went out with a backhoe on a Friday morning before a 3-day weekend. Dug up their water service out at the main pipe where the corporation stop is (that is what is threaded into the main to allow your service to be attached). The corporation stop has a shut off valve which is forever open. But not now. Crew shuts off water and backfills hole.

Cue Family storming in around 2pm screaming their water isn't working. "That's correct, it's been shut off." Cue screaming they want it on NAO! "No, not until all past payment and current charges are up to date. BTW we will only take cash or a certified check." And it's a pretty hefty sum, well into four figures. Cue more screaming. Cops are called and Family is told there will be no discussion here, pay or leave. Municipality tells them if the payment is not in hand by 3pm water will not be turned on today.

Family storms in @ 2:55, check in hand. Oh wait, it's not a certified check. Too bad, so sad. "No water this weekend." Cue more screaming. Cue cops (who never left) telling family to leave. Cue several Family members telling cops to go perform certain impossible anatomical acts. Cue said Family members getting arrested. The remainder take the hint and leave.

They brought in a certified check Tuesday, which turned out to be a fake. As the house has no water Zoning Officials condemn it and Family is forced to leave. They never came back, the bank seized it and sold it at auction.

[mhkohne]

They brought in a certified check Tuesday, which turned out to be a fake. As the house has no water Zoning Officials condemn it and Family is forced to leave. They never came back, the bank seized it and sold it at auction.

Man, I love a happy ending...

[fireheart]

If it isn't a money issue, have you looked at automatic payment? I know many people don't like the idea of it, but I personally LOVE it. I can only do it because my heat is included in rent (old building, natural gas heat, hot water, and range), so my electric bill is low. But anyway, auto payment is nice.

That's if theyll let you. My SOs parents wound up racking up a massive debt in their old house and were on a payment plan for that (they live within their means, the problem was with the house and appliances itself, not them*), but when they moved into a house that would better accommodate their needs, they asked about going on an auto debit plan to prevent themselves getting into that problem again. Power company threw a fit and said no. Apparently they'll only do it for people who are irresponsible, not for people who are responsible.

*-very old 3-bedroom house that was fairly large and very inefficient to heat/cool. Parents had a chest freezer and used the air-con and heating quite a bit. After one such heavy bill, they weren't always home and the power company just kept making estimates off of the last reading. When my SO took over the lease, he wound up with similar issues for a brief period of time, but when he rang to settle the bill and had someone come over to do an actual reading, it turned out that he only owed $100 as when they adjusted his usage to reflect the actual amount, things somehow worked out.
His parents ditched the chest freezer and moved into a 2-bedroom house which was more energy efficient and this resulted in their bill dropping right down. They still asked to set up a payment plan so they would avoid getting into this situation again, but the power company said no. In our case, we're fairly energy savvy and our bill is around $300-$400/quarter.

[workerbee222]

As the house has no water Zoning Officials condemn it and Family is forced to leave. They never came back, the bank seized it and sold it at auction.

A neighbor of ours agreed to rent a trailer to a man and his disabled wife. On move-in day, man, disabled wife, two sons, a son's girlfriend and a baby move in to the two bedroom trailer.

Two weeks later tenant asks for half of sec dep back as a loan...

Landlord got tired of the constant excuses, but it's hard to evict people here. He did the next best thing. He refused to pump the septic tank.

The family griped and moaned, and the code enforcement officer came up and looked at it. Yep, there was a problem. He walked down to the landlord's house and told him the septic tank had to be maintained if he wanted to continue renting the place. Well, what if he didn't want to rent the place? Code enforcement shrugs and says, that's your business. Walks back up to trailer and says you have to move It's unfit for human habitation. They said, no, he has to pump it out. He told them that's only if he wants to keep collecting rent, and he doesn't.

The class act tenants defecated on the kitchen floor the day they moved out.

[emax4]

Perhaps when people have to pay their local taxes, there should be a few empty fields on the forms for past due utility balances. If any amount gets entered in there, it gets deducted from any federal tax refunds they get. Customer gets paid up, utilities get their money, everyone wins!

[XCashier]

Perhaps when people have to pay their local taxes, there should be a few empty fields on the forms for past due utility balances. If any amount gets entered in there, it gets deducted from any federal tax refunds they get. Customer gets paid up, utilities get their money, everyone wins!

Not a bad idea, but there would have to be a lot of coordination between the State Tax Department and the dozens, even hundreds of utility companies per state. It probably could be done, but it'd take time, and most likely require many new laws passed. (I'm not even sure that would be Constitutional.)

That, and it requires people to be honest about their overdue utility bills...

[DGoddessChardonnay]

The irony of that statement made me

Me as well, especially since they all require the same thing to run . . .

Three guesses as to what that is, first two don't count.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Over here,I think they're not actually allowed to cut you off if you have someone in need-young children or elderly people-over the winter months

Depends on the area, I suspect.

It used to be that way here for years but after two mergers, they can and WILL cut off in the winter for non payment and they don't care if you have an elderly or handicapped person in your home, either..

Happened to our family in December 2013 (week before Christmas) all because of the way my pay periods fell that month. Mom couldn't get a one week extension and as a result, the entire back amount came due (just under 700 dollars) plus a reconnect fee before they would cut it back on.

Had to spend Christmas w/Dad and stepmom b/c it was simply too cold in our home and we weren't able to get the electric turned back on until December 26th (even with the assistance we were able to scrounge up to help get it back on.)

And wash, rinse, repeat in February 2014 . . . all because we couldn't get a two DAY extension so both social security checks could have time to hit the bank account (they wanted almost 700 then.) Cue another week of no electric and my entire federal tax refund (just under 1200) plus another 125 of my paycheck (luckily both checks came that same day) to cut the electric back on.

Following week we got hit with yet another ice storm.

So yeah, even though I have someone over 65 and in a wheelchair AND a mentally challenged adult in my home, it can and DID happen.

[protege]

As the house has no water Zoning Officials condemn it and Family is forced to leave. They never came back, the bank seized it and sold it at auction.

The neighborhood where I work has many houses like that. Most of them were owned (or are still owned) by slumlords who skate on the bills. They're all vacant because they've either been condemned by the borough, or because the lack of water is preventing their sale. Every one has a big yellow notice on the front door, and they've been like that for at least 2 years. The slumlords don't care--the residents trash the already falling-apart buildings--and they do the bare minimum of repairs, which are usually nothing. If they lose the building(s), it's just a tax loss to them. However, because of the area's drug problem, the borough has started tearing down abandoned homes. Too many were being used a crack houses.

[Golden Phoenix]

As for the "indoor gardeners", they were probably growing for their own consumption, since a commercial operation would be bringing in enough cash to pay the electric bill - and they'd know that if they paid the bill like normal people, the power company would have no reason to come in and find their agricultural operation. An "own consumption" garden would naturally cloud the gardeners' minds so they wouldn't be able to follow this logic.

No, these were full on grow operations, whole houses full of plants. I may have the figure a little out (it was a while back) but I believe the biggest one we took down was worth somewhere in the region of £15 million.

From what I gather, the lights, fans, watering systems etc use a *lot* of power, if they paid the bill it would cut into profits. Not the smartest lot really.

Some would bypass the meter so it didn't register the power in use, but then we'd send out an agent to check on the place because the (estimated) bills weren't being paid (agents would report back that properties were unoccupied so we could shut down the account) realise that the place was obviously in use somehow, realise that the meter hadn't moved and then send in the TOG or TOE department and usually find a tampered meter.

When replacing the meter, the electrician found that a rather clever shunt had been installed at some time, probably during the Depression (and later disconnected). It was designed so that only one electric line ran through the meter. The rest went straight from the power lines into the house.

See above, lol.

Sometimes it was simply residents who would do this. One guy did it multiple times on his gas line, using a sock (!) wrapped in duct tape (!!) it was a major disaster waiting to happen. He got caught 3 times. After the first his gas was turned off, he did it again to get his supply back. 2nd time they took out the meter, he did it again. 3rd time they dug up the damn pipe leading from the main supply to his home. The agent said that the gas was so heavy in the room that it made his head spin.

His attempt to get free gas cost him his supply, his freedom (briefly) and ultimately his son, who was removed by social services due to the danger the guy had placed him in. That one made me very sad.

Guess what. If you live in an apartment that doesn't have a padlock on the meter closet, and you get cut off, you can just head down to the laundry room and turn your power back on!

Doesn't work that way here For electricity meters, they are opened up and the fuses are removed. Gas meters they remove the isolation handle completely (known as blanking) so it can't physically be turned back on unless the meter is repaired by a tech. If (as with the guy above) they manage to get the gas supply back on, either the meter will be removed or a section of pipe leading to it will be and the pipe capped.