The Bear Facts...

After two days of waiting for ComEd to remove a fallen branch from our power line, my brother and I determined that the safety of our neighbors is more important than our own safety and carefully removed the branch from the power line. Despite ComEd informing us that it is potentially dangerous to remove a fallen branch from a power line, we determined it would only be a matter of time before the line came down and created a critical situation where someone could be electrocuted. When the branch fell, it landed on the line about 2 meters from the house. If we allowed ComEd to handle the situation, the live power line would still be stressed under the weight of the tree limb. When the power line disconnects because of the weight, it would do so from the house because all the weight was centered close to and near the house and not near the main pole line. Being the line would still be live, the live wire would land in the yard and across a metal fence which is shared by my neighbor as well as would dissect the alley, creating a hazard and danger for anyone who would be walking or driving through.

Removal of the tree limb was not an easy task and was heavy enough where took both of us to lift it and remove it from the live power line. I do know how potentially dangerous removing the limb from the power line was, but, after two days of the weight and stress on the live power line, we felt that it was imminent the limb be removed. At the time of this writing, the only danger is a low-hanging live wire that is contained within the boundaries of my yard. The power line is not low enough where someone can walk into it, but, if standing in the yard,  if someone were to reach  up, they can grab the power line without any difficulty. There is also still the potential hazard of the power line disconnecting from the house after the connections being weakened by the stress and weight of the tree limb.

I do realize that I never lost power, I do realize and agree that restoring power to selected residents is truly a high priority because of health issues and I do realize that restoring power to residents is a "higher priority" to ComEd, but, the danger that was faced by the power line under stress and the weight of a large tree limb was far more serious.  If  ComEd had assigned the incident to a technician when I first called and like they promised, the power line would have been freed several hours before a thunderstorm occurred. My initial call was approximately 3:00am on Saturday morning. It was dark and about 60 degrees outside. Most of my neighbors turned off their air conditioning and had windows open. This was a perfect and optimum time for ComEd to remove the branch and re-tension the power line. I stressed the severity of the situation to the customer service representative. She stated; “A technician will be out as soon as possible. If a technician does not come within two hours, call back to check the status”. I waited until 6:00am and phoned back. The telephone representative I spoke with stated; “ The engineers are aware of the problem, but, a technician has not been assigned as of yet”. Again, I stated the problem and the severity, but, my request feel upon def ears as the telephone representative stated; “I can not give you an ETA of a technician or when the problem will be assigned to a technician”.  I waited until 1:00pm and telephoned ComEd customer service again. By this time it is mid-day, the temperatures are in the 80’s and people are using air conditioning. Unlike when I made the initial phone call, this is NOT the optimum time for ComEd to shut off the power to remove the tree branch and re-tension the power line. The telephone representative stated she agreed that the situation was dangerous and stated the initial call was only classified as a “when convenient” call and the order was issued as such. The representative stated she listed the call and work order as a “priority one” which is just below an emergency situation. Again I waited for a technician and at 6:00pm, I decided to telephone ComEd once again. Again, my request fell upon def ears. I was regaled with a story of “13,000 customers without power” and how “ComEd views power restoration more of a priority than removing a tree limb from a power line”.  By this time I was extremely angry at the situation ComEd is subjecting me, my neighbors and the general public to. Several times I tried and almost pleaded for a technician to be assigned to remove the branch. No such luck. That branch we to stay there for the duration or until ComEd sees fit to remove it.

At this point I felt it was better to keep making phone calls and pleas to remove the tree limb and get the telephone calls recorded in the event the line DOES fall due to the weight placed upon it. As with all customer service phone centers, all the calls are recorded and therefore documented. If the line falls due to the weight of the tree limb and someone gets electrocuted, it is on record I called several times to request ComEd remove the limb. All the liability is on ComEd as they did not r4espond to a hazardous situation in a timely manor. At 6:00pm Saturday evening, I made my normal phone call and plea for a technician. Again, I was regaled with stories of customers without power and how I should be happy I still have electricity. Again, as with each telephone call I placed, I stated; “I don’t care if I do or don’t have power. My concern is the pubic and not if, but, WHEN that line is going to come down! The tree limb is VERY LARGE and looks VERY heavy!! That power line can only take so much stress before it breaks or comes disconnected! When it DOES come down, it won’t be from the alley side, it will be from the house. THEN there WILL be a REAL danger as a live power line will be lying across a metal fence and bisecting the alley”. You would think that explanation would help, not one bit. ComEd customer service representatives must have written scripts to follow as I received the almost same verbatim answer I received the previous calls. After I received the ComEd apology and a “promise” a technician would be assigned “as soon as possible”, I made one last comment; “I am glad the phone calls are recorded. As soon as that power line comes down because of the weight on it, I guarantee, I will bounce it back into ComEd’s lap and make sure the media knows how many calls I placed and how many requests and pleas I made to have the tree limb removed from the live power line. I am REALLY glad city services are not handled the same way ComEd treats dangerous situations. If the fire department handled calls the way ComEd does, they would arrive at their convenience, after the fire was smoldering embers and sate; “what do you need us for, the fire is out”. The customer service representative was quiet for several minutes and finally stated; “We will have someone out as soon as we can”.

I didn’t make any more phone calls that evening as four were already on file and recorded with requests for assistance. The following morning which was Sunday, I placed another phone call to ComEd customer service. As with each time I selected the option for power outage or downed power line. I explained the situation to the representative and stated I really don’t expect anyone to be dispatched as I originally made the first notification at 3:00am Saturday morning and this phone call  was just precautionary so when the power line breaks or comes undone from the house, I won’t be held responsible and I can put the full blame on ComEd. I was informed; “We have teams working in the field, we are aware of the problem and we will address the situation as soon as a crew is available”.  Two hours later, unbeknownst to me, my brother shows up and begins to remove the limb from the tree. I did make a plea to let ComEd remove it, his comment was pretty much the same as my several; “ComEd will remove it after someone is already dead”. (Isn’t it strange how “ComEd” and “dead” rhyme)? My brother is very stubborn and seeing he was not going to wait, rather than he get a hernia or drop the limb attempting to remove it and breaking the power line, I assisted him in the safest way possible. Between the two of us, the limb was removed and we estimated the weight to be about 200 to 250 pounds. (We didn’t have a scale readily accessible so we had to go with a rough estimate. If ComEd would like to donate use of a scale, please feel free).  Between the two of us we started to saw up the downed limb and put it aside for removal.

As of this writing, ComEd has yet to call or assign a technician to the problem, even though the danger has already been alleviated and averted. It is July 01, 2008 and ComEd has yet to make an appearance for this potentially hazardous incident. The danger that ComEd subjected my family and my neighbors to be incomprehensible. The thought that an incident such as the one I was faced with is not a major priority to ComEd. The potential danger of a power line disconnecting or breaking is not a priority. They would rather the power line break and someone get electrocuted and assign their media department to claim; “We were not aware of the potentially dangerous situation. Maybe if the customer had called earlier, we could have averted the power line breaking and someone being electrocuted”. ComEd would attempt to perform damage control and blame the customer rather than take responsibility themselves and admit they screwed up. This approach is very common for utility companies. Enron executives were embezzling from the utility company and were initiating black-outs to make it appear that the power supply was being over worked and strained by the demand consumers place. ComEd/ Exelon wants rate increases because they state they are losing money. I have an idea, increase the service and maybe we won’t complain about rate increases.

When I was a private investigator, several times I was assigned a surveillance detail regarding a ComEd worker who claimed to be disabled. I recorded several hours and several days of video of this guy lifting 20lb bags of dog food, riding a Harley Davison, working on friend’s houses, working on friend’s cars and working on his own house. He was supposed to have had bad knees, but yet, he can lift a 20lb bag of dog food into his vehicle. On doctor appointments, he would limp into the clinic and limp back to his vehicle, but when he returned home, he could walk normal. He was not the only Exelon employee I investigated for fraud. Another employee claimed she was disabled due to electrical shock. I obtained over 8 hours of this woman walking, running bending, lifting, sitting at a picnic bench and alternating lifting feet up onto the bench seat. Another Exelon employee called off at least once a week, but was observed out shopping and running personal errands. Not once did this employee visit the doctor in all my days of surveillance and investigation. As far as I know, these employees are still employed by Exelon and are still collecting worker’s compensation and calling off work due to injury or alleged illness. These are the employees that our payments support. The same employees who fail to view a 200lb tree limb stressing a live power line as a “dangerous and critical situation”. The same employees who view power restoration a higher priority than removing a shock hazard.  ComEd/ Exelon will continue to operate business as usual. Maybe one day they will re-evaluate their priorities and determine a shock hazard really is a higher priority than some power restoration calls. Then again, they may never learn and continue to do “damage control”.