I have a small trailer park in New Richmond, OH and the utility company is Duke Energy. I have a tenant who has not paid his electric bill (or rent) and had his electric service disconnected. He has broken the seal and reconnected his service twice.
My on site manager told me that in the past Duke Energy has cut the underground feeder to the pedestal when a tenant did the same thing. He also said the previous owner of the park had to pay to repair the feeder. My question is if this sounds like something Duke Energy would do?
I don't live in that part of the country or had dealings with Duke Energy but I have never heard of a utility doing something like this. I don't think my on site manager would intentionally misinform me and I'm hoping he just has some facts confused. Thanks in advance for any insight you can give me.
By cut I figure they mean they disconnect it, not snip it in two with bolt cutters.
If they damage your equipment by cutting it with bolt cutters, they should be responsible for the repair. Again, I doubt that is what happens.
If the contract for power is between the tenant and Duke, you should not be charged anything as you are not party to the agreement and can't be held accountable for the dispute between these parties unless you somehow stick your nose in it.
If you are the responsible party but are selling to the tenant under some sub agreement, it is your responsibility to control what goes on on your side of the meter.
They may have sent them a bill for the cost to have someone reconnect the feeders at the pedestal but it would be a cold day before I would pay a cost for something Duke did because they accepted a customer who was a poor credit risk. Seems to me that is not your problem.
Thanks for the response mivey. Your reply makes me feel a lot better about the situation. The agreement is 100% between Duke and my tenant. My on site guy made it sound like they had to dig up the feeder to make the repair which doesn't make sense to me. It sure seems easier to have the guy arrested for theft of services than to drag a backhoe out there.
My first call in the morning will be to Duke but at least for tonight I feel a little better. For a minute I thought I might have to hire an electrician in Ohio and we all know how expensive they can be.
Their customer, their problem. I see no need to drag you into the middle of their dispute or how they choose to resolve it. If they damage their own lateral, that's their problem.
My on site guy made it sound like they had to dig up the feeder to make the repair which doesn't make sense to me.
Me either. I suspect there must have been something else going on that got blended in with the re-connect issue. Maybe the customer cut into the lateral or something and Duke tried to pass that cost along to whoever they felt would bite. Wouldn't be me and shouldn't be you as you did not cause the damage.
It sure seems easier to have the guy arrested for theft of services than to drag a backhoe out there.
Maybe they squared off and started drawing lines. Still not your problem.
My first call in the morning will be to Duke but at least for tonight I feel a little better. For a minute I thought I might have to hire an electrician in Ohio and we all know how expensive they can be.
If this is a Duke lateral why would you need the electrician? If it is your conductor, you should make Duke pay for damaging your equipment.
As far as I would be concerned, there was nothing wrong with your stuff beforehand. After Duke decided to handle a dispute with their customer, the dispute resolution made your stuff quit working. Should be Duke's responsibility.
No way should Duke damage your equipment in order to handle a dispute with one of their customers.
I have a tenant who has not paid his electric bill (or rent) and had his electric service disconnected. He has broken the seal and reconnected his service twice.
My on site manager told me that in the past Duke Energy has cut the underground feeder to the pedestal when a tenant did the same thing. He also said the previous owner of the park had to pay to repair the feeder.
It sure seems easier to have the guy arrested for theft of services than to drag a backhoe out there.
For a minute I thought I might have to hire an electrician in Ohio and we all know how expensive they can be.
I have had to deal with power theft problems several times and I don't like it. The power companies consider anyone that would steal power to be the lowest and they are not in a hurry to help get power turned back on even when trying to do it the legal way.
As far as having to hire an electrician it would be typical for you to have to get an electrician to have power restored. Once power has been stolen the power company will probably require that you get an electrician to permit the trailer hook up and get an inspection before power is restored.
The reason they would cut the feeder is because in mobile home parks there are often two or more trailers metered at on service drop. They can't cut power at the pole or transformer without turning off a paying customer so they put the booties on and if that doesn't do it then a barrel lock but if all else fails they probably would cut the feeder as a dangerous and unauthorized connection.
Yes, I think "any" power company would cut the feeder if it keeps getting hooked up illegally. And they will make it as hard (expensive ) as possible to get power restored.
As far as having to hire an electrician it would be typical for you to have to get an electrician to have power restored. Once power has been stolen the power company will probably require that you get an electrician to permit the trailer hook up and get an inspection before power is restored.
And if that cost comes, it should be passed along to the new tenant as part of the move-in cost.
The reason they would cut the feeder is because in mobile home parks there are often two or more trailers metered at on service drop. They can't cut power at the pole or transformer without turning off a paying customer so they put the booties on and if that doesn't do it then a barrel lock but if all else fails they probably would cut the feeder as a dangerous and unauthorized connection.
Yes, I think "any" power company would cut the feeder if it keeps getting hooked up illegally. And they will make it as hard (expensive ) as possible to get power restored.
Duke can cut their wire as much as they want. They can also pass the repair cost (or a "connection cost") along to the new tenant. The park owner should not eat the cost. If Duke insists on a new feeder for every tenant then I would be sure these costs are consistent with how they treat the rest of the similar Duke customer base. No way would I quietly let my park be disenfranchised by making my potential tenants have to pay more than they would to move in to other parks.
Either way, still not a cost that the park owner should eat. If Duke was cutting my line to settle a dispute with their customer, and costing me money, we would have a meeting of the minds.
We serve multiple laterals with a common feeder but we also own the line. Splicing the laterals are a cost of business and we do not pass the cost from one customer to the next (not intentionally anyway). If we choose to cut a line to fix a problem, we don't try to directly pass the cost off to a third party. That's crazy.
Duke is responsible for handling the theft of service costs, not some third party. If sharing a service drop is an issue, maybe that needs to be re-thunk.
it would be a cold day before I would pay a cost for something Duke did because they accepted a customer who was a poor credit risk. Seems to me that is not your problem.
And if that cost comes, it should be passed along to the new tenant as part of the move-in cost.Mivey if you want to look at this as who's responsible it's the owner. The owner of a property is responsible for what happens on that property.
It's the mobile home park that decided to rent to a tentant that's a bum and poor credit risk. The power company can't refuse service if the person has the deposit money. I have had to restore power for the same tenant that was stealing power and so long as the fines are paid they have no choice. I did one where a local church paid the fines and back electric bills.
Now, the owner of the propety has the right to try and collect any money they are out from the tenant ( the person that stole power ). If he didn't pay his rent there is a fat chance of that.
You don't have a right to an electrical connection unless the bills are paid and any unauthorized connection can be disconnected ( stealing power makes it an unauthorized connection ).. If they say it's a dangerous connection they can do so by whatever means are necessary.
Mivey if you want to look at this as who's responsible it's the owner. The owner of a property is responsible for what happens on that property.
No, they are not.
It's the mobile home park that decided to rent to a tenant that's a bum and poor credit risk. The power company can't refuse service if the person has the deposit money. I have had to restore power for the same tenant that was stealing power and so long as the fines are paid they have no choice. I did one where a local church paid the fines and back electric bills.
And if the thief pays the fines and costs, the park owner does not have to. If these costs are not paid, then service can be refused. They can not refuse service to a new tenant for the past sins of a previous tenant (except for special cases like same household, etc).
Bad debts are a part of the business and are allowed for as part of the rate case. Theft is also covered when they make their rate case. That goes hand in hand with being required to provide service. What is not allowed is for me to pass the cost of theft directly along to a third party.
Now, the owner of the property has the right to try and collect any money they are out from the tenant ( the person that stole power ). If he didn't pay his rent there is a fat chance of that.
The park owner is not responsible for Duke's service drop. Duke owns the stuff on their side of the delivery point (commercial exceptions apply).
Except as otherwise provided in these ELECTRIC SERVICE REGULATIONS, in service agreements or rate schedules, the Company will install and maintain its lines and equipment on its side of the point of delivery, but shall not be required to install or maintain any lines or equipment, except Company owned meters and metering equipment, on the customer's side of the point of delivery without cost to the customer.
You don't have a right to an electrical connection unless the bills are paid and any unauthorized connection can be disconnected ( stealing power makes it an unauthorized connection ).. If they say it's a dangerous connection they can do so by whatever means are necessary.
But that does not mean they can pass the cost along to a third party.Not necessarily. What if they decided it was easier for them to rip the service off the side of a rental house whenever there was theft of service? "Whatever means" with no repercussion is nonsense.
For overhead, we have cut the service drop and hung it way up on the pole to prevent theft. But we do not charge the owner to re-string and connect the drop. Service connect fees cover these type costs for the new tenant. Fines and penalties cover the costs for the thief. We have also removed the wire from the transformer terminations. If we are having a problem with a shared feeder, perhaps we need to quit sharing the feeder. That is a distribution issue.
I can't decide to run a parallel feeder to serve a customer and make sure I can disconnect them without cutting a wire and send the property owner a bill for the feeder. There is usually a regulated fee that covers these type costs (contribution to aid in construction being a separate issue). At any rate, it is an issue between the POCO and their customer. The POCO can't burn my house down to settle a service theft issue my renter (a bit extreme but the fundamental idea is the same). Don't forget I am also obligated to rent to a paying customer. His personal problems do not obligate me to pay for his crimes.
If we do not have a box for the lateral connection, we do not charge the property owner when we re-connect a service lateral. It was our choice to share feeders and to not have an easy disconnect terminal point. That is a cost of business. How many splices do you think are going to be made before the wire is replaced anyway?
If the POCO is taking a loss on service to trailer parks, they need to petition in their next rate case for a higher deposit and/or connect fee for trailer park customers.