Electric Company Problems

What is the name of your state? North Dakota
our electric company comes by every few weeks to demand payment or turn off the electricity, but we make regular payments every two weeks and at least every month. when we pay we make payments in excess of fifty dollars, but we still cant catch up. can they really turn off the electricity, if we are making regular payments or are they harassing us?

[racer72]

If you are not current and the amount owed is continuing to grow, yes, the electric company can shut off your power. Have you checked to see if there are any programs that may be able to help? This would apply if you are considered low income.

we have done an emergency assistance with social services back in november i think, but the bill keeps growing and growing. social services said they would come out to see if the house was energy efficient but never showed. the monthly bills range from 150 to 200 a month wich seems high to me, but it is a big house. why cant they apply the money we send to the past due amount instead of the current bill...that would probably help...i dont know

[crusheroz]

150 to 200 is not that high of an electric bill. There are people that would love to see their bill that low. Have you asked the electric company if they have a hardship program? Alot of them have programs to help low income families. Also do you keep your heat at a reasonable temp (68 to 70 degrees), turn it down when you are not at home, use a blanket to get warm instead of turning up the heat? There are lot of ways to cut your bill.

thats what the bill runs MONTHLY...not total... and yes we turn the heater off in the daytime, we sealed all the windows and even the back door. we dont use many lights or run the tv or radios all day. we dont use the dryer in the summers, we line dry. we only cook three meals a day, and dont warm things up for snacks so on so forth...bare necessities...also a side note ...we have a senior citizen living here as well as two children under the age six...this is north dakota its the middle of winter...as i understand it, there is some sort of law against them disconnecting or threatening the electric under those circumstances????

[crusheroz]

I understood that to be monthly, and it isnt very high.

most people i know, who live in houses like ours, their bills rund about 75 to 90.

[djohnson]

I am from TN and still regulated under TVA so the circumstances may vary so keep that in mind. Turning your heater down more than 5 degrees during the day is not energy efficient. It will actually cost you more to do this. You are advised to keep a heat pump at the same temp to conserve energy. Also I agree that that is not a high bill. If you think it is , most utilities offer to have someone come out and check your home for effeciency. You can call and ask yours. The theory behind not letting you get further behind is because it is not helping you in the long run. If you can't afford to pay the bill with 150.00 balance and they cut you off, the chances is better for you to come up with that amount than if they wait 3 months and you have to come up with 450.00. They are selling a service that you want and have the right to stop that service if payment is not made. I do not know about there but here there is no law about terminating service because of weather, however most in the Valley will not cut off if it is under 32 degrees. If it becomes 33 they will. Does your bill run this in summer also? You may have a hot water heater problem that is causing your bill to go up. Are you running any kind of small electrical heaters or wall heaters? These use as much electricity as a heat pump. You may also try churches for assistance if you are a member. They typically help.

we actually only run the heater about five hours during the night, so 19 hours of the day the heaters are not on. also, TN is a little warmer than north dakota i mean we have six feet of snow on the ground. and, like i said before social services were going to come out and see if the house was energy efficient and never showed up. the bills run the same in the summer, mainly because of the air conditioner, i do believe they are a bit lower.our bill right now is around four hundred dollars because we cannot keep up with the bills, i believe that it is running more than two hundred a month now, i think it has something to do with iraq. and war and so on and so forth. i stress that the problem is not the bill itself but the fact that there are elderly living here and small children, its the dead of winter and they dont give a **** if those people die so long as they get their money. my point is, is that if there is some law stating it is illegal for them to turn off the electricity under these conditions then why is it not illegal for them to come around every two weeks and threaten to turn it off? we pay every two weeks, we are making steady payments, the threat shouldn't even be happening. its like a medical bill or a credit card bill, if you make steady monthly payments they cannot send you to collections and so on and so forth, they cannot deny your medical attention or your credit card usage so long as you are making payments....why dont electric companies follow this same law or code or whatever it is? why do electric companies get to rule the world with their outrageous prices and monopolizations? its not fair and i wish someone would quit commenting on how low our bill "seems" to be and start telling me where i can find the law that states what ive been told!!!!

[djohnson]

I do understand your situation and wish that I could help however the reason you are not being told where to find that law you were told about is it does not exist. Just like in your example of credit card companies, if you don't make the payments per your contract that can and will shut your card down. As cruel as it may seem the electric companies are selling a product that also has to be purchased by the electric company. For every bill that does not get paid the rates must go up for the people that are paying their bills to cover this. Most electric companies work on a very small margin of profit. The point that it is colder there than it is in TN was exactly my point. That is a standard bill here, so there that must be really low. Other than telling you where to go for help, a job, or budgeting advice we can't tell you how to get out of paying a bill. I know there is no law in the Valley to prohibit this so unless someone is more familiar with your state and there is I don't think there is one. You still however didn't mention what type of heaters and stuff you are running. I may be able to offer advice on how to cut it down some.

we are not trying to "get out" of paying the bill we are trying to keep them from turning the heat off. they demand payment in full or turn it off, every two weeks when we are paying every two weeks. does the fact that we pay every two weeks mean nothing to people these days????????? and yes there is a law, because my dad used it awhile back but he couldnt tell me how to locate it....social services helped him. but they arent helping us.

[djohnson]

You might try searching on findlaw.com or some of the other search engines but I doubt you will find it. Have you contacted the company to see what the policies are? Chances are they would not be doing this regularly if there was such a limitable law. I know there is not one in any of the states under TVA and can't imagine there being one anywhere. They are selling a service and have the right to refuse delivering more service for non payment. I know it may not be the best choice but there are other things to heat by to make sure no one freezes and also generators. But just like with the electricity, if you can't pay you probably won't get one of those either. Have you checked with agencies for assistance? Have you checked with you church or clubs or groups you belong to? Have you checked with friends and family to see if they could help? I think those are going to be your only choices.

[bigun]

You may wish to check with social services again or, what every agency in ND that checks on living conditions for senior citizens and/or children. Some states in colder climates do have laws against shutting off power between Nov. and March.

I am not sure that this a federal mandate, or law, but I do think that some cold climate states have regulations prohibiting utility shut-offs that would deprive elderly, children or the disabled of heat in their residence during the winter. But I agree that you have got to get your income and your outgo in better balance.
Another thought- please get SOMEBODY knowledgeable, an electrician, someone from the power company, the fire marshal even!-to check that you do not have some problem with your home's wiring that might be drawing a lot of electricity-in fact I'd say that was priority one- your lives could be at risk.
Hope you get things worked out.

thank you all those who finally got the point and as for the idiot who thinks that i might enjoy the porn site...that was totally inappropriate and i hope they kicked you off this site and never get back on. how rude!