WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — A Warner Robins woman is upset after her power was cut off during below freezing weather, but is it legal for utilities to cut power if it's below freezing?
That's a question Sonja Nichols has.
"I came in at around 5 p.m. and I noticed the lights weren't on when I flipped it on," said Sonja Nichols.
She, her 7-year-old son, and 10-month-old nephew got home to no power in below freezing weather.
"They say, 'Your lights are out for non-payment,'" Nichols said.
So she paid her Flint Energies bill to turn the power back on. However, she says the power was off for 3 hours.
Nichols says she and her kids were left with only blankets to stay warm.
"Why did they do that? I don't understand it?" Nichols said.
The Flint Energies rules state that disconnection will be temporarily waived on residential accounts when the temperature remains at or below 32 degrees all day.
So is it legal for a power company to cut out the electricity in below freezing temperatures? We set out to verify.
The Georgia Public Service Commission regulates the state's public utilities like Georgia Power.
According to GPSC spokesman Tom Krause, those companies can't cut off service to a customer for an unpaid bill between November 15 and March 15 if "the forecast local low temperature for a 24-hour period beginning at 8 a.m. on the date of the proposed disconnection is below 32," according to regulations.
The forecast local low temperature on Tuesday at 8 a.m. was around 25 degrees. In Warner Robins, the actual low was 27 degrees at that time.
But there's a catch. Flint EMC is a rural electrical cooperative, not a public utility company.
Under federal law, they're not covered by the state, and they're allowed to set their own rules, so if you're a customer of a rural electric company like Flint EMC, you're out of luck.
We verified that some power companies can shut off power for customers like Nichols even if temperatures are below freezing for part of the day.
Flint Energies say its rules mirror the Public Service Commission guidelines and that they follow those standards because "our members' well-being is at the forefront of our commitment," according to their statement.
VERIFY SOURCES:
-Tom Krause, Public Information Officer at Georgia Public Service Commission
-Georgia Public Service Commission Regulations
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