When I lived in Minnesota, it was flat-out illegal to cut off heat, either electric or gas, in the winter. Steve, is that still the case?
This was not a regulated utility, it is a city run power supplier. Municipalities are not regulated like the utility companies are. They can shut off someone’s power, they don’t pay taxes on the power, they borrow money at a lower interest rate. They can do almost what they want, don’t have the same rules as a utility.
Compounding those facts are that this is Bay City. The city government there is so busy fighting over little pissy issues and investigating each other that they can’t be bothered with making sure elderly don’t freeze in their homes.
Notice what Mr. Belleman (the city manager) says at the end of this article - http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2172273/posts?page=21
“Belleman said city officials will review Electric Light & Power policies in the wake of Schur’s death. Belleman said he doesn’t believe the city did anything wrong.”
Yep, you’re correct.
It’s illegal in relatively mild CT, I can’t believe a town government, not just a utility company, of all things did this. Though I must say, the one time I had my electricity shut off was the one time I lived in a town that owned the electric company. Just a couple of days late and they snuffed you out without warning, so maybe such authoritarian tactics just come too easily to any government power.