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Tue 27 Jul 2010 09:40
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People Begin Living without Electricity and water in California
I couldn't find statistics for local utility shut offs in my area, but Iknew we would start to see more and more of this.
Houses everywhere are going vacant. People don't say goodbye, they don'tleave a number, they just disappear. With their disappearance we addanother vacant house to the street. But familiesliving in housing without utilities is a new sight for me to behold. Ispoke recently with a rep from So Cal Edison who, full time contactsresidence who have had their electricity turned off due to non payment. She has anegotiator sent in and they work on a reduced payment. It's amazing tome, that now, it is becoming acceptable in California to camp out inyour home.
People are losing their homes, losing their cars and losing theirdignity. How are we going to afford kids clothes and school supplies forthe coming year? How can we expect families to pay for all theseadditional costs when the economy is in the shape it in. I ask myselfthis everyday.
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Requests for help paying utility bills surge upward
Lightswitches, furnaces and water faucets aren't the typical gauges ofeconomic health, but at Pikes Peak United Way's 2-1-1 call center, theytell a tale of people who continue to struggle to pay their bills in aweak economy.
According to a report released Monday by the 2-1-1 Information andReferral Hotline, requests for utility bill assistance in the fiscalyear ending June 30 jumped 20 percent from the previous year,outstripping requests for help with food and rent.
"That's by far the biggest spike in looking at data year-to-year," said2-1-1 Center Manager JessicaJohnson-Simmons. "I would guess it would have something to do withrecent utility hikes that have gone into effect, but it's also a case ofclients just getting too overwhelmed with their...
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I feel horrible; I know my kids must feel horrible," said MariaSchultheis, who lives in the house with her husband and twin teenagesons. "I'm humiliated because I never had to live like this."
The town water department shut off the Schultheises' water about a monthago after the family fell behind on payments on a $1,700 overdue bill.John Schultheis -- a computer programmer who has beenout of work for three years -- watched in disbelief as town workersturned off the water valve near the curb of his three-bedroom bungalowin a quiet middle-class neighborhood in the Lake Hiawatha section ofParsippany.
As the recession continues, utility companies say a growing number ofNew Jerseyans are falling behind on their electric, gas and water bills.For many, a flood of emergency funding in state andfederal aid programs -- coupled with a state-imposed moratorium onutility shut-offs during the winter months -- has helped keep the lightson and the water flowing over the last few months.
But, with much of the state money gone and the winter moratorium ended,utility officials say more and more families like the Schultheises maybe losing their electricity, gas or water service in the coming months.
"I do expect shut-off activity to increase the second part of the year,"said Victor Viscomi, PSE&G's director of billing and revenueoperations. "Some of the emergency-payment assistance money is dryingup."
PSE&G, the state's largest utility, has seen a 10 percent increasein families behind on their payments, compared with this time last year,Viscomi said. Many of those are households that had never had a latepayment until now.
http://beforeitsnews.com/story/115/339/People_Begin_Living_Without_Electricity_and_Water_in_California.html
Comments
I suppose it was the universes way of getting me prepared. Crash course you say ?