CLEARWATER, Fla. – Power surges are costing a homeowner thousands of dollars as she loses appliances and fears for her family’s safety. Katrina George told the ABC Action News I-Team she has been fighting for a solution from Duke Energy for about two years. George recalls learning about Duke Energy’s plan to move the power lines underground around that time.
“Oh my God, when they knocked on the door, it was hallelujah!” George said, telling the I-Team that they had lost power frequently. “All these other problems were supposed to go away. But this was just the beginning of a nightmare.”
Then came flickering lights and electric shocks.
“Here you can see where the power surge actually burned out my stove,” George said, holding up a plug. “If that happens to one appliance, what happens to the rest of my house?”
George also showed the I-Team a light fixture she had recently replaced.
“I had to replace my microwave every year,” George said. “You don’t replace TVs that often. We do.”
George said her daughter woke up one morning to find her computer and phone, which were plugged in to charge, had burned out. Then, hours after the I-Team met with George, her daughter’s television went black.
“We pulled the plug and as you can see, it was on fire,” George said in a video she shot on her cellphone to document the damage.
Catherine George
George said her family also replaced washing machines and fax machines.
“When that happened and they said it was coming from my house, if it was my problem, I would have fixed it. I wanted to fix it,” George said. “I had five electricians – certified, licensed electricians – come out here, in addition to a forensic engineer, who all determined, and it’s in writing and Duke Energy has it, that Duke Energy is the problem.”
George showed the I-Team an email from that technician that said, “…if the problem occurred in your home, we could have reproduced it using the equipment in your home.”
He continued: “Everything I have observed points to a temporary supply problem.”
“You’re at your wits’ end. You know, where do you go? I’ve called commissioners, I’ve called the city of Clearwater, I’ve called members of Congress, they’re not calling back,” George said.
George said she spent thousands of dollars replacing appliances and hiring electricians to fix the problem, whatever it was, paying for a peace of mind she still doesn’t have.
“I’m afraid there could be a huge spark coming from Duke Energy that could set my house on fire,” George said.
Duke Energy did not agree to an interview.
WFTS
“We have not received any reliability complaints from other customers in this area over the past two years. As a goodwill gesture, we replaced a water heater in the customer’s home,” Duke Energy Florida spokeswoman Ana Gibbs said in a statement. “We take all customer concerns very seriously and will continue to work with the customer to address these concerns.”
After the I-Team contacted Duke Energy and the state Public Service Commission on George’s behalf, George said they heard from the commission that it intends to conduct a joint inspection with Duke Energy of the electrical problems throughout the street.
This is the first admission, George told the I-Team, that this problem is bigger than just them.
“I want them to know that I’m a customer. I’m a paying customer. And as a paying customer, I have the same rights as anyone else,” George said. “And if you break something, you have to fix it.”
Duke Energy told the I-Team it plans to install a voltage meter in George’s home a second time and that the Public Service Commission will discuss the results with her. George said she plans to bring her own electrician but is still waiting on a timeline for when that will happen.
Meanwhile, the city of Clearwater is considering eliminating Duke Energy as its energy provider. Earlier this month, City Council members voted to fund a feasibility study to determine what that might look like. While Duke Energy says no part of its service area is for sale, the city’s contract with Duke Energy expires next year.
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