They do it to limit usage when they can’t disconect some high power user. It’s worth it if they have to power the place for 5 to 6 months when the power can’t be disconected due to laws. Someone with a crappy house can spend at least $1000 a month in the winter. I’ve known people that rented a house in the country, and had bills like that. There are houses out there like that yet. I think a rewire to limit the heat to a couple rooms is going to be worth it. They don’t normaly go out and limit it on a house were it was a $80 for the month. I haven’t seen that particular article for over 15 years, so your out of luck on that. You’ll have to check out printed archives to find the article, Likely on micrfiche by now.
Yes, some people (I actually know someone like this) invariably fall behind on their gas AND electric during the winter, and so use electric space heaters throughout the house, electric stove to heat water for bath, etc etc. I can easily see how this would result in an electric bill going through the roof.
I love it. A question asking for facts, and only one doper bothers to post actual facts. You know, like a link to an actual statute or regulation on the subject? :rolleyes:
Thank-you, Gfactor!
For the rest, when will you learn that the plural of anecdote is not data? 
They asked if laws exited, not where is a page with the laws. There’s a difference.
Any time. I learned all about HEAP and winter shut off orders during my time at Legal Aid. It’s always nice when that stuff comes in handy.
No there is not. He’s asking for something other than recollections, which are notoriously poor as barometers of fact. Gfactor didn’t have to provide citations, but asserting that there is or is not a law without providing a citation makes the assertion essentially useless.
All I have to say is you get what you ask for, so think through what you really want, and ask the correct question.
I don’t know if our utility companies here are prohibited during winter from suspending service – the weather is relatively mild compared to other parts of the country – but at least SRP, one of the two biggies, does put a limiter on rather than cut the power completely.
It doesn’t take a crew, just one person, who pulls the meter off, plugs the limiter, a one-inch thick meter-diameter disk, into the mains, then plugs the meter back in on top of the limiter. You get to draw about 800 watts, enough for the refrigerator and a handful of lights, but no electric cooking, air conditioning, or heating. If you exceed the draw, the limiter kicks the power off, but you can restore it by pushing in a button. I’m guessing it’s just a fancy circuit breaker.
After ten days, if you still haven’t made good on your bill, your power is cut dead at the pole, and the restoration fee jumps from about $50 to a couple hundred.
No anecdote; personal experience (except the last part).