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During the past decade of wingnut control, a lot of laws have been slipped in that are only now beginning to take effect. In a recent event in N. Texas, we’ve discovered that in cases of a corporation making an error that costs you, you get to pay.
Recently a transmitter blew outside some Dallas area homes, damaging appliances by the power surge that occurred. The owner of the transmitter is Oncor, a dominant power firm in the area. One homeowner who lost thousands of dollars in appliances that are essential to her everyday operations of her home, Ms. Fagan, expected that since the company responsible was the cause of her damages, the company would replace them.
Fagan says when she called Oncor to report the damaged goods, they told her an adjuster would be out in a matter of days.
The adjuster never came. What did come was a letter from the utility accepting blame — but not liability.
It read:
"Dear Ms. Fagan… Oncor Electric Delivery does not guarantee against voltage fluctuations… as set forth in the Tariff for Electric Service approved by the Public Utility Commission of Texas. You may want to contact your insurance agent."
Oncor spokesperson Jeamy Molina echoed the corporate position. "Because of the Tariff, we aren’t liable for any repairs that the equipment did cause," she said.
Note that the Tariff approved by Texas’ PUC is so written that liability for damages has been shifted to the injured party. This is yet another instance of right wing legislative fiascos that are making the individual the guarantor of their own essential protections, and making the corporate welfare recipients the object of our government.
In this brave new world, if the truck runs over you, soon you will be required to remove the bloody waste from its underside. The rugged individualism that teabaggers are promoting is another version of Robin Hood law, only this time it takes from the poor to give to the rich.
23 Comments
The likes of The Ruler of Dubai who are too big to jail are the heroes of wingnuts.
I see some resemblance to Gubner (We don’t succeed, we secede) Perry.
The Teaparty/Republican ballad…
Robin Hood in reverse, backing up over the Merry Men.
heh
Ms. Palin is out on a splashy tour….esp focused on women with a pink elephant tag line.
Because you have to be drunk to appreciate her?
Surge protectors for the whole house?
I had a client a few years back in San Francisco, who lost the entire household full of electrics, including high-end computer hardware. P,G&E came begging to cover the replacements – many thousands of dollars. Not a peep of complaint from them. They ate a whole street full of electrics when their transformer blew.
She had surge protectors on the big-ticket stuff, but they weren’t quick enough.
Sorry to be picky, but you probably meant transformer not transmitter.
Do you know, you’re probably right. I’m not much at electrical work.
Transformer. A transformer changes voltage levels. At the distribution line outside your house, a transformer steps down the voltage (pressure) from the higher voltage lines so that only lower voltage goes to your house — about 250 volts at your house’s circuit box, which is then stepped down to the 120 volts in the sockets you plug into.
If the transformer outside blows up, and the line doesn’t trip (disconnect) then you get a surge of higher voltage into the house’s circuit box, which is overwhelmed, and then the higher voltages surge on to any appliance plugged in and turned on. It’s the surge in pressure what “fries” the appliances.
Many thanks, when is the test?
Do your homework on these as my data is dated (and Power Engineers/EEs feel free to jump in here)…
(1) There is the concept of whole house surge protection (see Leviton’s whole house surge protection device for the main panel for example).
(2) Computer equipment likes a steady flow of electricity between a specific voltage value (the fluctuating voltage is the encodement signaling the zeros and ones to the ‘puter). I tested the MinuteMan UPS/Line Conditioner/Surge Protector (it essentially converts from AC to DC and back to AC to do the trick) on a personal network in an East Coast thunderstorm with an electrical envelope strong enough to ring a land line telephone (yee-haw!).
(3) Look at the manufacturer’s track record for honoring warranties after you get the skinny on the device specifications and any fine print.
Happy caveat emptor-ing!
how did the minuteman do?
At the time of the test, the MinuteMan “brick” passed with flying colors. Remember, “surge suppression,” “line conditioning,” and “uninterruptable power supply” are separate functions. I like to play it safe and get all of them in a device, especially if you live in lightening storm territory (think about what it means that one lightening strike is enough to power the City of Chicago!), as money is an object for most folks these days and “prevention is worth an ounce of cure.” :)
thank you. my washing machine’s computer went out not that long ago and one of my suspicions is that it was from lightning. i’ve been keeping the plug out in rainstorms til i get around to buying something. i now have some clue of what to look for. many thanks.
That would be Dooh Nibor law, a phrase that was popular on blogs during the Bush administration.
Dooh Nibor, taht sdnous thgir.
Susanne late night hostess had her electical appliances fried and the electric company in Northern Oregon ponied up. That said my HP computer needed a new hinge they wanted $430.00 under warranty…local repair bought the part and will fix for under $100.00. Yes we are the targets and they have our money and a legal staff to die for. So relief in court has gone their way. Oligarchy rules.
This is just taking the old corporate weighted idea of if it’s your fault, it’s your problem but if it’s their fault, it’s your problem to it’s logical progression. And the people defending it? They’ll be the first and loudest ones to whine when it’s their property that’s damaged but while it’s somebody else, all they have is scorn and excuses.
The classic example of this is a phone company that used to (maybe still is, if in business) based out west that ensnared business customers by quoting them rates many cents per minute cheaper than ATT and the like, but after 3 months switched them to being billed under some complex formula the customers THOUGHT was cents per minute but was about DOUBLE.
When caught out, they pointed to the customer’s agreeing to the tarrif (WHICH THEY’D SENT THEM). No one in his right mind would read all the fine print of the tarrif, but buried within it was their right to legally complete the “bait and switch.” Corporate law uber alles (and the heads of the company, though rumored to be the Mafia, were apparently just lawyers).
These are the fellas that are now writing credit card company rules, then?