Dad Chains Himself to Electric Meter to Save Daughter's Life

I agree with Uly. They even let him go pretty long without paying, so they gave him a chance. If he was tight for monmey but knew his daughter's life depends on electricity why would he choose not to pay the electricity bill?

Maybe because he choose to pay for food, medicines for his daughter, transportation to Doctors for himself and his daughter, and to make sure they had a roof over their heads. I don't know were he was getting money to pay for anything, since he isn't able to get unemployment. He must have had some money coming in or some savings because it says in the article that he kept up with his bills for awhile. I'm sure he had to make a choice, to pay for electricity or pay for something else. The something else obviously won.

Around here electric companies don't cut electricity off when there is medical need, some of them even have a special fund to help in these situations. I am surprised that they didn't suggest that he apply for assistance of some sort. I'm surprised that he didn't apply for everything he qualified for.

Yes, he had more important things to pay for. However, when he initially realized he was going to be unable to meet his financial obligations to the power company, it was his responsibility to call the company and inform them of his dilemma. He should never have allowed it to get so far out of hand to where they had no choice but to turn off his power.

As a responsible adult, you don't just stop paying your bills. You call someone to figure out what to do when you end up in a situation like this gentleman. Or, they cut the service, repo your belongings, or garnish your wages, if you have any. These companies are businesses, it is not their jobs to hold your hand through your inability to pay, but, more often than not, they are willing to help you find a solution.

Uly u r part rite but, sometimes people come to rough times & stuff hapn. I use to work 70hrs a week got fired for a stupid reason. I always paid my bills. Now I live off $750 a month paying rent, lite & gas. I have a special needs child & nobody cares but when u have to chose which bill to pay & ur rent is $600 a month it gets very hard. The lite company should've been more humane & at least given those people with life threatning problems a few months break after they found out. People just don't have a heart all they care about is money & I guess u must be one of those people. Hopefully you will never experience wat those people experience a decision that could cause a loved one their life.

True, but the reality is this, most people will pay their bills and most will be shut off, if their bills aren't paid. It was damn cold for the utility to attempt to turn off the service, which could have eventually been paid.

I'm sure the father cut back on his non-essential electricity use, and I know utilities are well stocked.

Unfortunately I have to agree. Look at the bailout situation because banks weren't paid their mortgages. There are agencies out there to help with utilities. I wonder if the father checked into them? Of course we could all pay a little more on our electric bills for the money to be used in these situations.

Its not about the electric companies not getting enough money to opperate correctly. Valid medical exemptions are a SUPER tiny part of the populace. Granted, I don't think they count fridges for medicine (I thik they asume you should just get a friend or neighbor to hold it or something) but any medical equipments like a feeding tube or ventalater or dialysis machine should count.

ANYWAY, it's law in most states that electricity when needed for medical reasons is a protected right and these people could sue the electric company for substantial losses and rights violations.

Implying he is at fault for not paying the bills is insensitive, and its obvious you've nver bee in that desperate a situation or you'd have more compassion at least about how you go about saying it.

Uly, you are the voice of reason. Nicely put.

Our power company has a program called Project Share. This is where you can donate $1 - $5 a month and if someone is in need like the very sick or elderly, it helps pay their bill. You might can ask your power company if they have a program like that and donate each month. Always good to donate and help others in need. If they mis-use the money... that is on them. :o)

I am wondering why this family wasn't utilizing public assistance... If the father wasn't working, shouldn't the family have been eligible for money to help pay the bills? I live in WV and if you can show a financial need, the power company will reduce the charges of your electric bill to what you can manage per month. I've never used the service, but I was on the power co's website and it described the program that they offer for disadvantaged families. Also, the power company must have tried to collect the amount many times before and then gave them a break- otherwise it seems pretty hard to rack up $2000 in past due bills. I know that I was a few days late last month, and we got a couple calls every day for a $95 bill.
I feel sorry for this family, because I am sure that the situation is overwhelming, but it doesn't seem that they are taking advantage of all the resources that might be available to them so that this doesn't happen again.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

I sympathize with people who are put in rough spots like the one above, but sometimes you just have to priortize and it sounds like the father in this story had a tough time priortizing his bills.

If you know your daughter needs electricity to survive, PAY THAT FIRST.

Also, GET A JOB, even if it's minimum wage, at least you're earning some $$$ to help you pay for things like, oh I don't know, ELECTRICITY.

You miss the point entirely. Its not a matter of it being "thier job" to be a charity. I am a retired firefighter, and it wasnt my job on many occassions to take many of the risks I did to help others..but it was the right thing to do...this idea that somehow the power companies will go broke if they exercise a little compassion , even at a marginal profit loss, is ridiculous and they love people like you to believe that. Take a look at the salaries of many of the executives of these companies and the profits they turn. If you still can say this garbage, then you are not the "liberal" you purport to be. When was the last time you heard of a power company goin out of business?If power companies lose money its due to stock market investments and executive benefits and salaries, not due to helping dying children by giving them breaks on power bills. Once again, its all about the almighty dollar to some people instead of doing the right thing. ITs the same attitude that just tumbled an entire political party out of power. Times are about to get rough and people-including medical and utility companies better startr thinking of something besides a profit.

Mike, I'm not a liberal because I think that matters such as this should be handled by the electric company?

No, I'm a liberal because I think matters like this should be handled by the government, that medical care should be handled in such a way that situations like this *never* occur.

Of course, we don't live in that country. We don't live in that world. We live in *this* world. And in *this* world it's unreasonable to ask private companies to take care of other people's personal problems.

Oh,really? that is the biggest line of BS I've ever heard. Electric companies are just like banks,greedy bags of crap always looking to rip people off and cut corners. Oh, and by the way sweetheart,they are the same ones who do not want ANY alternitive
sources of power ie.solar,wind,hydropower because that just might cut into their ill gotten profits.

no that is not true Sharon.....I live in PA and have supplied medical forms and even had the doctor called twice and they still shut my power off. had chemotherapy medicine in the frigerator for terminally ill child and told them that and they did not care. all i owed was $500 and they shut me off. they do not care at all. it is hard enough dealing with a child who has cancer and then you miss work cause you have to take them to the doctors and the hospitals and no one cares let alone they wont even help. i have had everything disconnected at one time or another electric, water and even the phone......

Yes momm2500 I can relate. Living in Ohio with a terminally ill child and being a single mother, didn't stop the electric company, my landlord, the bank that held my car loan from wanting their money. As I was the sole provider I had to make a decision to take care of my child during his final months or work to pay the bills. I had to drive my child two hours away for medical treatment and of course needed to be with him. These people are heartless. It is hard enough dealing with the emotional stress of your child dying and then dealing with these companies that don't care. Finally a local organization stepped in and helped me, but the companies never backed off; they demanded their money. It doesn't matter where you live, it is always about money!

PLEASE, PLEASE, everyone read the whole story on this!! This is not a case of the evil power company vs the infirmed. Gulf Power has helped this family NUMEROUS times before. This family has even done this previously and received lots of money for their bills. Their neighbors claim that they smoke, drink, party, but they keep asking all the people here for donations. It's one thing if you really NEED the help, but it's horrible if you're doing doing your part to help your family! READ the WHOLE story, don't just fall for the "teaser" headlines!

Nope, PECO will shut off your bill. I owed a whopping $231.23. I was paying it 6 days late...and I got a shut off notice that if it wasn't paid in full (about $110 was 6 days past the due date, and the rest was the "estimated" bill for the current month) by the next day, the power would be shut off. I am 6 months pregnant, am type 1 diabetic, and have a 3 year old. My husband called them just to tell them it would be paid in full the following Friday when he got paid (he only gets paid bi-weekly). After 30 minutes on the phone, we got an extenstion until that Friday. It was insane.
Oh, and for the record, our payment has never been late or missed in the 6 years we have been with PECO.