This is a re-post from my FOX Network Blog;
I have a mulberry tree in my back yard. It has been a part of our family since we purchased the house and has grown with the family. The tree has always stood fast and strong and has always endured all the weather Mother Nature throws at it. On June 15, heavy thunder storms roiled through the Chicago area with winds in excess of 65mph. Two large branches from the tree across the street were broken off and were laying in the street, but, other than a few misplaced Mulberries, our strong tree seemed to whether the storm, at least that is what I thought. At 3am this morning, I could not sleep and was watching a movie on Starz when I thought I heard something fall in the yard. I looked outside and everything seemed to be fine, so, I didn't worry too much and chalked it up to someone throwing trash away, or, something in the alley. I decided to walk outside to make sure everything was in order and no one had thrown a brick through the windshield of my car again. As I walked through the yard, I observed a LARGE branch that had apparently been weakened by the thunderstorm on the 15 and finally broken off lying across the yard with the power line bowed underneath it. The power line is not the main power line, but, the power line leading from the pole to our house. I checked the alley to make sure there was no danger to drivers and made sure the tree branch and power line was not affecting my neighbor.
At 3:10am, after all my preliminary safety checks were completed, I returned inside to call for assistance. I called 311, described the situation and I was instructed to call Com-Ed as the fire department is pretty much at the mercy of ComEd, as the power must be cut in order for them to do anything anyway. I immediately called ComEd to report the partially downed wire. I described the situation to the ComEd representative and was informed a technician would be out "AS SOON AS POSSIBLE" to handle the partially down wire. I hung up satisfied that I would see ComEd within a reasonable amount of time given the severity of the incident. 4:00am, ComEd still a no-show and the wire is still bowed under the weight of the branch. 5:00am, nothing, at 6:00am I decided to call ComEd back and find out if they are dispatching the truck from Iowa or from Montana. I was informed; "The technicians are aware of the problem, but no one has been assigned as of yet and I can not give you an ETA for a technician at this time". Great!! I have a partially downed high voltage wire in my yard. All someone has to do is walk into it and they will get the full effect of what it's like to be seated and zapped in "Old Sparky". Not to mention, the branch is heavy enough where it is lying on the ground, has the wire stretched and weighted down far enough a person can touch it without reaching up. I don't know how much more pressure the wire can take before it completely disconnects from the house, or, breaks where the branch is laying across it.
If the wire breaks, or disconnects from the entry point at the meter, the situation will escalate from serious to critical. I can live with no power and no A/C until ComEd imports a repair truck from Japan. I can find something to occupy my time other than writing an entry on how ComEd maintains we receive exceptional service, charges us for service we really DON'T receive and still wants to increase rates for service. My real concern is the downed power line lying across the alley, or, landing on the metal fence we have around our yard. Instant electric fence. It will keep the neighborhood kids out of the yard, however, I don't think I am ready to accept the liability of someone being fried by my newly acquired property defense.
All joking aside, I notified ComEd at 3am of a potentially dangerous situation. At the time of this writing, I have yet to see or hear from ComEd. No technician has been assigned to the hazard, and no repair time has been specified. 9 hours and ComEd still has not assigned a technician or arrived to resolve the danger. ComEd wants to raise the rates and charge us even more for service. A power line has been partially down in my yard for the upside of 9 hours. This is an extremely dangerous situation. CFD can not do anything because they are at the mercy of ComEd. I REFUSE to go out and try to remove the branch from the power line to keep the line from breaking and possibly electrocuting someone. I really don't understand this. I explained how dangerous the situation is. I told ComEd the power line is under the weight and pressure of the tree branch and is in serious danger of breaking. I was told, "We will have someone out there AS SOON AS POSSIBLE". I NEVER realized in a dangerous situation "As soon as possible" would be several hours from the time ComEd was called. I am really glad that all emergency situations are not handled in this format. A person's house is in flames, the fire department is called, emergency services states; "We will be there as soon as possible" . Several hours later the fire department arrives after the house and the rest of the block is smoldering embers and just in time to make the comment; "what do you need us for, the fire is out".
I am sure that there are EXTREMELY important issues that the ComEd technicians need to address, like, which carwash in Chicago is large enough to fit a heavy truck with a extension arm, or, which McDonald's still offers the Indiana Jones action figures. The power line is going to break, and then we will have a critical situation where I WILL have to call the fire department and two police units will have to be removed from service to block off the alley until ComEd decides to finally assign the incident to a technician. Tow units that coals be doing something more productive than babysitting a downed power line because ComEd doesn't understand the concept of "imminent danger".
I briefly paused in writing this entry and attempted another plea for ComEd to assign a technician to the incident. Again I stressed the severity of the situation. The representative enquired how large or heavy is the branch on the power line. Again, as I stressed at 3:00am, the branch is large enough and heavy enough to be lying on the ground and have the power line extended low enough where someone can reach out and touch it. The representative said she was upgrading the severity of the ticket and will have someone out within the next two hours. The representative also stated the original work order was issued at a "low" status, which translates to; "when you have time and can get to it, there is no emergency". Even though I stressed how severe the situation is, the original representative put the order at a "low" status.
It is now mid-day with the temperature in the 80's and sunny. ComEd will have to cut the power at the transformer in order to remove the branch and re-tension the line in order for it to be high enough so a person can not touch or grab it. Cutting the power at the transformer will cut the power for the entire block. That means my neighbors will be without power and air conditioning for possibly an hour or more. If ComEd had assigned a technician at 3am when I first called, the technician could have cut the power, removed the tree branch and repaired my power line all before anyone was up or realized that there was a short power outage. If ComEd addressed the situation at 3am, when it was dark, with cooler temperatures than at mid-day, it would be fixed and taken care of already. Now at the hottest point of the day, they are re-issuing the work order at a higher level because of the imminent danger or severity of the situation. Now everyone that receives power from that transformer will have to suffer because of ComEd and their foul-up.
It is currently 2:20pm and I am still waiting for ComEd to arrive. I was given a time frame of one to two hours. I am REALLY glad that ComEd doesn't view this as a potentially hazardous condition, especially considering the power line has been stressed under the weight of a large tree branch for over 9 hours. With the service we receive and the response time for a technician in an emergency, I am really surprised ComEd is allowed to raise rates. But then again, Enron was in operation for years. Enron deceived and scammed the west cost for a long time before the federal government found out that the executives were lining their pockets and not meeting needs of the customers. I wonder how long it will take before the federal government finds out about the inadequate service Exelon/ ComEd are subjecting us to.
