Thoughts?
It amazes the crap out of me that a so-called 'public utility' is as brazen and heartless as IP&L.
When I lived in WI (and granted winters were a tic harsher) WPS had a policy that they would not disconnect anyone between Nov and April, regardless of how far behind you were. Then to come here and see people dying in fires because IP&L disconnects them in the middle of winter is like ... wtf?
And now this. Hmmmmpf.http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070126/LOCAL18/701260451Family sues IPL over mother's deathUtility disputes daughter's claim that woman using oxygen wasn't told power would be cutSonya Abrahamson knew she was in trouble when she dialed 911, but when the emergency operator answered, she didn't have enough breath to complete the call. Emergency personnel arrived at her home in Decatur Township 13 minutes later. They found her unconscious on the floor with the telephone in her hand.
Abrahamson, 57, who suffered from chronic pulmonary disease, was taken to Community Hospital South, where she died. The family is blaming Indianapolis Power & Light Co. for causing her death when utility workers cut off her power, leaving her without a functioning electricity-operated oxygen machine. IPL spokeswoman Crystal Livers-Powers said the power was disconnected because the bill had not been paid.
Abrahamson's death on July 6 was a "direct result" of the utility shutting down power to her Southwestside home without proper notice, Indianapolis attorney Hugh G. Baker Jr. contends in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Marion Superior Court. The power company, Baker claims, knew Abrahamson was on the oxygen machine because it had sent a worker to the home two months before her death to disconnect the service. The utility worker went inside the house and saw the equipment, Baker said. The family said arrangements were made to make payments.
... more at link ...