People demand no utility cutoffs

An elderly widower died an excruciating death from hypothermia in Bay City, Mich., a small city 100 miles north of Detroit. Marvin E. Schur, age 93, froze to death in his own home after the city’s power company installed a “limiting device,” which shuts off electricity when it reaches a minimal usage level. Bay City Electric Light & Power installed it on Schur’s home on Jan. 13 because he was $1,000 behind in his payments.

His frozen body was found by a neighbor on Jan. 17. The unpaid utility bills, with cash clipped to them, were on his kitchen table. (Detroit News, Jan. 27)

Schur was a retired pattern-maker who once worked at Baker-Perkins Co. in Saginaw. He was a World War II veteran, an army medic who was wounded in combat in the South Pacific.

News of Schur’s death spread rapidly, causing outrage. Hundreds of people called the city government to demand action. Bay City officials ordered the power company to immediately remove limiting devices from residential homes.

State representative Jeff Mayes of Bay City, chair of the House Energy and Technology Committee, called for a moratorium on utility shutoffs as well as the use of limiting devices “in order to ensure that this does not happen again.”

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox explained that municipal utilities such as Bay City Electric Light & Power don’t have to follow Michigan Public Service Commission rules, which ban power shutoffs on seniors and disabled people from Nov. 1 to April 1. According to Cox, only state-regulated commercial utilities such as DTE Energy and Consumers Energy must follow PSC rules. (Bay City Times, Jan. 28)

Cox’s office “will gather some facts to see if we shouldn’t suggest to the Legislature that all utilities—whether they’re regulated utilities or municipal utilities—comply with the rules of the Michigan Public Service Commission regarding power shutoffs of the elderly during winter time.”

A slow, painful death

Dr. Kanu Virani, the deputy chief medical examiner for Oakland County who performed an autopsy on Schur, said it was the first time in 18 years that he had performed an autopsy on someone who had died from freezing inside a building. Virani said Schur’s death from hypothermia was a lingering, painful one. The body shuts down slowly. “The exposed parts of the body start getting a burning pain,” he said. “It becomes intense, like frostbite.” (Detroit News, Jan. 27)

Schur’s nephew, 66-year-old William Walworth of Ormond Beach, Fla., said it was foolish to think something like his uncle’s “horrible” death couldn’t occur again. He pointed out that snow and ice storms have left hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses without power from Oklahoma to Maine. “There’s gonna be a couple thousand more Marvin Schurs out there right now,” predicted Walworth. (Bay City Times, Jan. 29)

“He had the money to pay his utility bills. It had to be his mind that went,” said the nephew. The limiting devices supposedly have a “reset” button. But for seniors, those in poor health or with impaired mobility, it would be practically impossible to go outdoors to find and fix the limiter.

This January in Michigan was among the coldest on record, according to the National Weather Service.

Emergency measures needed

Below-freezing temperatures, combined with massive snowfalls and icy conditions, have affected huge sections of the United States—from Maine to Texas. At the same time, skyrocketing utility costs translate into heating bills that are 10 percent higher than last year. “We have more [customers] behind on bills,” said Scott Simons, a spokesperson for DTE Energy. (Detroit News, Jan. 29)

Power outages due to recent storms have left over a million families without heat and electricity in many parts of the country. The governors of Kentucky and Oklahoma have declared states of emergency but reported no initial assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. President Barack Obama declared a federal state of emergency in Missouri.

At least 42 people have died across the U.S. during the latest storm, which began Jan. 28. Eleven died in Kentucky. “A man and two women were the latest victims after they were found dead in a southwestern Louisville home. One woman was found in a bed; the other two were found in the garage with a generator.” (Detroit Free Press, Jan. 31)

A state of emergency and moratorium on all utility shutoffs should be declared immediately in every part of the U.S. affected by weather conditions, growing unemployment and poverty.

Federal funds to provide shelter, food, health care, clothing and other assistance to the many victims of the snow, ice and cold should be made available at once. Reparations should be paid to the families of those who perished due to the greed and negligenceof utility companies.