| Subject: |
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The peril of being powerless |
| Name: |
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boots |
| Date Posted: |
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Jul 7, 06 - 5:34 PM |
| IP Address: |
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12.226.91.142 |
| Message: |
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By TOM ALEX
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
July 7, 2006
Nancy Walker still has headaches and earaches from a June 28 close call when carbon monoxide from a generator almost killed her and her Des Moines family.
But an even bigger headache is how she and her family are going to pay their $3,075 MidAmerican Energy bill to get the power restored to their home near the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
The Walkers are among thousands of Iowans who have had their power cut off because they couldn't afford to pay for it. Some 14,000 Iowa households had their power disconnected during April and May this year, said Jerry McKim of the Iowa Bureau of Energy Assistance.
Most customers are disconnected in April or May, energy officials said. It is illegal for power companies to disconnect households during the cold weather months from Nov. 1 to April 1.
Activists say they are concerned that more Iowans like the Walkers will use alternative and more dangerous power sources for longer periods of time before they can get the power from a utility company turned back on.
"This is a public health matter as well as an energy issue," McKim said. "House fires are started by candles. Food and medicine spoil in refrigerators that are not on. Generators fill houses with fumes. More and more households are going to be heading into the winter season with no power."
"We've been tracking data for eight years, and the most disturbing trend is the widening gap between disconnect and reconnect" dates, said McKim.
MidAmerican Energy Inc. said it didn't have any statistics verifying that contention; however, the company disconnected some 2,000 more customers this spring than it did two years ago. In 2004, 6,557 households were disconnected for nonpayment, compared with 8,628 this spring. The number of disconnections was slightly higher last year - 8,647.
McKim's agency provides low-income Iowans with financial help to pay their power bills. The average assistance payment last winter was $451, and nearly 90,000 households sought them last winter, he said.
"We are seeing families with higher back bills on utility bills," said Marci Rafdal, acting community services administrator with the city of Des Moines. "High utility bills are pinching families, and as winter approaches I think you will see more families trying to live without energy."
Allan Urlis, spokesman for MidAmerican Energy, said the average natural gas bill jumped to $803 for the period of October 2005 through April of this year, compared with $709 for the same seven-month period a year earlier. That's significant, because last winter was mild. The increase could have been much larger in a bitter winter.
The problem is not only the high cost of energy, but also rising costs of milk, gasoline and vegetables. Low-income families' financial struggles increase as prices rise through inflation.
"I'm behind in the rent, too, but thank God the landlord is understanding about that," a tearful Nancy Walker said Wednesday. "At some point, I suppose we could be evicted."
An extension cord from a neighbor's house powers the fan in the living room and the refrigerator. "At least we can keep the meat cold for now. The dry ice we were using was very expensive, and it didn't last that long," said Walker, 59.
Officials worry that families like the Walkers, who are disconnected from utility companies' services, not only are spending more money than necessary by using camp stoves for heating food and dry ice for cooling refrigerators, but are also putting themselves at greater risk of injury.
On June 28, Walker and nine other people sleeping in her house nearly died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Richard, her husband of 24 years, set his alarm clock, which woke them up. The Walkers had to crawl because of the amount of the carbon monoxide in their systems. Others who were less affected came to their aid. All 10 were treated at local hospitals and later released.
Urlis said disconnection is a last resort. Payment agreements are available so customers can pay on a back bill while continuing to keep up with current bills. If a customer defaults on that agreement, a second agreement may be arranged. If there is a default on the second agreement, the total bill comes due at once.
Rafdal said that the Walkers' carbon monoxide scare "is not going to be the last incident like this. It's important to get the word out that it's dangerous to bring the grill inside the house to cook, that (fuel-burning) generators cannot be brought inside the house."
Nancy Walker said her husband knew that the generator they put in the basement of the house was putting out carbon monoxide.
"He opened a window and had some cross ventilation down there. He just thought that was enough," she said. "He blames himself."
Now that the Walkers are recovering from the carbon monoxide poisoning, the family's financial woes are the most urgent concern. The Walkers are talking with Po |
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