It gets a bit mind-boggling when you try to think of all the problems the community suffered as a result of Wednesday’s extended UniSource power outage.
People with electric heat woke up to homes that were not only dark, but terribly cold. Many went all day without a means of cooking a meal at home, while also worrying if food items in their freezers and fridges would survive. Those with electric pumps had water issues to contend with. People using electric-powered medical equipment at home were faced with an especially scary reality.
School was canceled for thousands of local children, messing up lesson plans and quashing afterschool activities, practices, athletic events and parent-teacher conferences. For many parents and guardians, that likely meant scrambling to find alternative diversions and supervision for their kids.
Then there were the economic impacts. Workers lost hours, business owners lost sales and, potentially, product. The city and county lost sales tax revenue. The economic impact was big, no doubt, and in a community with large numbers of people working in minimum-wage jobs and a high rate of poverty, the hit to regular folks was potentially quite significant.
If the outage had been the result of a weather emergency like a tornado, hurricane or blizzard, we’d be more sympathetic toward our power company. But in fact, it was apparently the result of some sort of equipment failure that affected a key UniSource transmission line. So while the blackout certainly wasn’t intentional, UniSource is still the responsible party. And they sure took a long time to fix it.
Therefore, you’d expect the company to be rushing to “make good” with its aggrieved customers. Not billing them for the hours they went without service is a no-brainer. A one-time, pain-and-suffering bonus credit would also be a nice gesture.
When the NI asked the company whether customers could expect a discount on their next bill due to lost service, a spokesman pointed to an online complaint form, though it appears to apply only to physical property damage. What’s more, the spokesman wrote in a text message: "Typically, we don’t assume responsibility to pay for damages in circumstances the company … could not have reasonably predicted or prevented … including instances of malfunctioning equipment."
From a consumer’s perspective, we typically assume that if we pay someone to provide a service that they stop providing for a period of time, we shouldn’t have to pay for the lapse. If the loss of service is especially egregious, causing financial and/or emotional suffering, we expect a make-good gesture as well.
But here’s the thing: as its name implies, UniSource is the only option most of us in Santa Cruz County have if we want electricity for our homes, businesses or institutions. And when a for-profit corporation is allowed to monopolize a market, consumer power and corporate responsibility get thrown out the window.
There is, however, an agency in Arizona with authority over profit-driven monopolies like UniSource. It’s called the Arizona Corporation Commission, and it’s led by five commissioners who were elected by the people of the state to look out for their interests. The ACC has a website where consumers can register complaints about utility companies like UniSource.
What’s more, UniSource is in the process of trying to convince the ACC that it should be allowed to jack up its rates starting in 2024. As the request moves forward, the ACC will hold hearings and public comment sessions. When this happens, local residents should be sure to make their opinions heard. In doing so, they may want to recall the blackout of Feb. 1, as well the company’s response to it.
(Note: On Friday morning, UniSource sent local customers an email, asking them to fill out a survey regarding the outage. It's pretty generic, but there's a window at the end that allows for additional comments.)
Clark is managing editor of the Nogales International.