On July 13 the neutral line failed on my 3 family apartment house. The failure was at the utility company transformer. The utility (RG+E) would not own up to the responsiblity of reimbursing me for the 3 boiler controls that crisped.
In September the company added another transformer across the street for a total of 3 transformers for 23 houses. My side of the street has 2 transformers for 26 houses. Failure was on a hot day, I figure with the addition of extra fans, longer run cycles, etc the distribution wires were over taxed.
I took ’em to court, and won! In fact they did not show! I posted here in July and got a few hints and pushed on. Thank you guys for taking the time.
Replies
Congrats!! Way to stick to your guns.
...that's not a mistake, it's rustic
Way to push!
Forrest
Thanks for the update, but -
How about some more details about the case?
79906.1 On July 13 the neutral line failed on my 3 family apartment house. The failure was at the utility company transformer. The utility (RG+E) would not own up to the responsibility of reimbursing me for the 3 boiler controls that crisped.The neutral line failure allows the voltage to vary from hot line 1 to hot line 2 depending on the resistance of the load. One line will go low voltage the other high. On my house circuit the boiler controls went toast. I was in Utah at the time, checking my voice messages and there was the Captain of the Fire Department telling me the meters were pulled and I had to enlist a independent electrician to check the house wiring and certify it safe. (This was the utilities way of verifying the grounds in the house were functional.) The city then was required to stamp the inspection prior to the utility reinstalling the meters.My point with the utility was "how can your wire failure and possible damage to my property cause this much expense to me." The utility would not even call my tenants, their customers to schedule time to meet with the electrician. Remember I am in the desert in Utah, 1800 mi away. RG+E "Customer Service" kept saying file a claim with their claims department.I return and discover the entire 1/2 block of two streets is dealing with burnt out TV's, computers, dvd's, microwaves and heating equipment. RG+E is also denying all claims, their tariff shields them from voltage irregularities and service interruptions. I can understand avoiding damage from lightning strikes, and downed lines from trees and auto accidents. Heh, when I was a kid the electric always went off Friday night when someone got liquored up, cleaned out a ditch and hit the power pole on pay day.
In September the company added another transformer across the street for a total of 3 transformers for 23 houses. My side of the street has 2 transformers for 26 houses. Failure was on a hot day, I figure with the addition of extra fans, longer run cycles, etc the distribution wires were over taxed.So I found a covenant in the tariff that made the company responsible for accidents and negligence on their part. I sent a letter to the claims department asking for the maintenance and design records of the power distribution network for the street. There is also common law between the states called the Uniform Commercial Code that governs transactions between parties. Two provisions here is the goods must be fit for use (you buy a saw and it must be capable of cutting) and the rights of the consumer can not be infringed. The interesting part of New York State law is the monopolies are "controlled" by the Public Service Commission". The PSC petitions the regulated community (utility) to write the tarriff. The PSC then holds public hearings for comment on the 300+ pages. The hearings are often at 1 PM at the town hall and public is asked to comment. No comment, and the tarriff is passed. Jeepers, I wonder what the staff of thousands earning hundred's of thousands does the other 250 days of the year?I have gone door to door talking to neighbors trying to get them to write their elected officials (this is their election year) to let them know what they think of the system. My loss pales in comparison to what others have lost, and I am not just going to let my insurance company suck it up. The last thing that really bothers me, is that it is just morally wrong, the utility can perform a thermal scan once every five years and find the coupling overheating long before it fails. We had voltage problems at work, when we had a shutdown I insisted on have the leads disconnected from the pad transformer. One lead was fused solid and twisted off. A new transformed was changed in and our voltage problems went away.Got a call from a tennent in a different house saying the electric stove quit working. I went over and checked the voltage, 110 to grd, 110 to grd, ok, line to line was zero! Checked the breaker box and it was the same. Asked the tennent if there was any power pole work lately, he said they hung a new transformer two days ago. I look outside and both wires to the house are connected to the same tap!!I call customer service and try explaining the problem and get nowhere fast. They finally switch me to dispatch and finally tell the dispatcher I am looking at their "wiring job, and both wires are at the same connection. He goes d__m, that's the second one today.Lastly a different time I get a call, no heat and no lights in the hallways, and my house meter is pulled. I go over and there is no meter for the house circuit. I call customer service and ask about my account, and confirm it is paid up. I ask how many times it has been late in the last 17 years, none, nada. Then splain to me why the meter was pulled??Will send a truck right away, in 1 to 2 hours. I wait for the truck, guy says security pulled the meter and he can't reinstall. I say the decision is for him to make, but if he wants to save he company from real trouble he will install the meter. Finally after many cell calls the meter is installed. Three days later I get a nasty gram from Rochester Gas and Electric Security saying there are crossed circuits in my building and my tennents are supplying power to the common areas! I am now obligated to get an independent electrician to verify the circuits are separate and send report to the utility. I called the reference number and tell them the story and finally get the vindictive action dropped.In 8 more years I will finally be able to escape from New York, don't know where yet, but gathering data. The rest of the country is gaining population, Upstate is losing. Is it the climate, the taxes or the best government money can buy.
Thanks for the story. But I was more concerned about what you had to do to win the case.Sorry for the confusion...
You go to a psychiatrist when you're slightly cracked, and keep going until you're completely broke.
how do you collect your winnings ?
carpenter in transition
how do you collect your winnings ?
Many years ago I obtained a judgment (about 20K) for a client, against New England Telephone Co. The utilities all own lots of real estate, almost always with no debt. When they kept ignoring my demands for payment, I had the judgment recorded in the registry of deeds. When they still ignored me, I scheduled a sheriff's sale. The building was in downtown Boston and was worth $ millions. The day before the sale I got a call from a panicked lawyer who was about to get fired because company headquarters was about to be auctioned. He hand delivered the check, including interest, fees, etc.
That's hilarious!
Did you win cause your case was stonger or because they didn't show?
Where are you located? I live in Henrietta and am familiar with the antics of RG&E.
Do you know what RG&E REALLY stands for?
Rampant Greed & Extortion
Fairport, yeah Fairport Electric. I have rental property on RG+E grid. The real crime is RG+E abandoning Russell station. Russell is the only reason we had tap water 2 years ago, when the grid went down. Russell is also a variable load station, there are 4 burners so it can be modulated.