Human Popsicle
Wednesday, January 28th, 2009
The title of this entry is not meant to be disrespectful.
I find the following news very disturbing.
TV5 and WNEM.com has learned about new circumstances surrounding the freezing death of a 93-year-old man from Bay City.
A limiter on Marvin Schur’s electric meter outside of his home is being partially blamed for his death.
Authorities said it was 32 degrees inside Schur’s house when neighbors found his body.
Bay City Electric Light and Power sent Schur a shutoff notice through the mail a few weeks ago. Then crews placed a shutoff notice on his front door.
A few days later, Schur was found by neighbors.
Bay City Electric Light and Power, which is owned by the city, said a limiter was placed on Schur’s electrical line. The device limits the power that reaches a home, and it blows out like a fuse if power consumption rises past a set level.
The manager of Bay City, Robert V. Belleman, said the limiter was tripped sometime between the time of installation and the discovery of the man’s body.
Belleman said city workers keep the limiter on a house for 10 days, then shut off power entirely if the homeowner hasn’t paid utility bills or arranged to do so.
TV5 checked with Consumers Energy and Detroit Edison Tuesday to see if those companies use limiters. They said they do not.
A Consumers spokeswoman said it has never used limiters. DTE said it doesn’t use limiters because the Michigan Public Service Commission discourages use of the devices.
TV5 also found out that Bay City isn’t regulated by the state agency because it’s a municipal company. It has a review board that sets its standards.
Now, according to some, Bay City could be sued as a result of its policy on limiters and the fact that it didn’t personally notify Schur about the device.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 28th, 2009 at 9:27 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
