Adversities of life in the 21st Century

Working in the Healthcare profession as I do, 'emergency service' tends to mean rapid response to a crisis situation. I have no idea what it means to these people. Suffice it to say that they will not get another penny from me until the situation is resolved and even then I intend to switch companies.

When I called Energywatch, the girl I spoke to was not familiar with my case, therefore she said she would pass a message to her supervisor, who is also my case manager, and get her to call me back. Sure enough about an hour later I received a telephone call from Energywatch.

Mrs Armstrong was interested to hear what I said and also that Scottish Power had otherwise still not contacted me. She said she was glad that I had received this estimate as she was rapidly running out of ideas on how to proceed with my complaint. She said she would contact Scottish Power again, but also advised me to contact the billing department and give them the proper reading on my meter.

I telephoned Scottish Power, and the girl I spoke to there said that £446.60 for a quarterly bill was indeed very high, so I told her about the previous eight years. She sounded genuinely astonished. I therefore gave her the actual reading on my meter. She calculated the montary value of the revised amount which came to just over £200.00, which she also regarded as very high for a quarterly bill. I told her all we had in the house - like low energy bulbs, A-rated energy efficient appliances, only using 30 degree economy wash programmes, and never leaving anything on standby.

She said it sounded to her like there was a problem with the mains connection. I told her about my next door neighbour and his high bills. I also told her about the fire in his meter cupboard when his next door neighbour had a new electric shower installed. She asked if I was prepared to hold on while she spoke to her supervisor, to which I agreed.

Firstly, I have written a letter with all the details about what has happened over the past eight years, and I intend to send a copy to every newspaper I can think of. Hopefully someone will have some helpful suggestions.

Secondly, I plan to seek legal advice. I think that it is time for the courts to hear what is happening with my electricity supply.

We were having a serious discussion at work today about my electrical situation, and I was reminded by one of my colleagues that I had recently taken time off work as Scottish Power were sending someone to my house to discuss payment. Of course you probably know what I'm going to say next so I won't disappoint you - they didn't turn up. This was on 11th June this year, the day before my birthday and the eighth anniversary of my move to this house which is of course also the eighth anniversary of the beginning of my troubles with Scottish Power.

My latest proposal to Scottish Power, which will undoubtedly fall on deaf ears is that I want them to take me off the split feed connection and give me a direct connection to the mains. If I start using the high amounts of electricity used in previous years, then I will happily pay any outstanding amount. If on the other hand as I suspect - my electrical consumption drops even more, then I expect a full refund of all money overcharged by Scottish Power and a full written appology.

Is it so difficult for someone to come out and look at a cable and either say, its fine, or its wired incorrectly and fix it? Of course, if its the latter, then that means repair bills and refunds for Scottish Power. However lets look on the bright side for Scottish Power - it could be fine - then I'm very nearly out of options. It could mean that I was using that amount of electricity and now I'm suddenly not - for no apparent reason, and I would be left with a huge bill and no explanation.

As we were thinking about electricity, my wife decided to check our meter at 12 midday. We had already managed to use 8 units of electricity since 1am.

Now bearing in mind that Scottish Power say that an average user will use between 9 and 15 units of electricity per day. 8 units for half a day may sound quite high, but if you also consider that we did not get out of bed until 11am, then 8 units begins to sound extortionate. You might think that perhaps someone else in the household was up and using power, however, my stepdaughter was at college today and therefore left the house around 8:15am.

Last Tuesday 10/07/07 we used 16 units of electricity. That doesn't sound too bad - only 1 unit above what would be considered average. However, last Wednesday 11/07/07 we were out for six hours as a family and managed to also use 16 units of electricity. On Monday 09/07/07 we were out for Eight hours as a family and used 11 units of electricity, but on Friday 13/07/07 we were out for nine and a half hours, and managed to use 14 units of electricity.

Whilst clearing out one of my two attic rooms today, I came across an old notebook I used to use in my previous flat to record my monthly expenditure.

In 1997 it appears I paid £50.00 per month for electricity, and in 1998 I paid £35.00 per month. On average I was paying around £500.00 per year for electricity, yet I move into this house and immediately increase my usage to nearly four times that amount (£435.00 for my first summer quarter bill). I may be wrong, but I don't think I even owned enough electrical equipment to be able to use that level of electricity.

Donna from Energywatch said she would call Scottish Power on my behalf again and get back to me. Sure enough, within 30 minutes she had returned my call stating that Her contact at Scottish Power said she had spoken to Mr Sweeney, and our Mr Sweeney had stated that he had already sent someone else to check the cablehead at 108. Funnily enough he must have done so without the knowledge of my next door neighbour. Perhaps it was some clandestine nocturnal operation when all around were asleep.

My wife spoke to our neighbour on Monday 09/07/07 and specifically asked about a visit from Scottish Power. My neighbour replied that he had actually forgotten that he and his wife were to expect a visit from Scottish Power. He confirmed that no-one had been to his house to check the cabling.

I made Energywatch aware of the one person within Scottish Power who is or was prepared to accept that a problem may exist. Sadly since my first contact with the gentleman - he appears to have disappeared off the face of the earth. About five or six weeks ago I came into contact with Paul Sweeney of Scottish Power. When I outlined my current situation he immediately suggested a fault in the main cablehead at 108. He said he would get someone to check it. The electrician that was sent appeared not to fully grasp the situation - he said he had been sent to check the cablehead at 108, but thought that my property was only connected to 112 so he came to my house. After he had checked my cabling again I got a telephone call from Mr Sweeney to say that the cable had been checked and that everything was fine. I then explained what had happened, and he reiterated that all 4 properties from 106 - 112 were connected and the main feed was at 108. He said he was going on holiday for 2 weeks, but he would send someone else to check 108.

Throughout the next 2 weeks we were kept up-to-date by our neighbour at 108 regarding the non-appearance of anyone from Scottish Power. Then I telephoned Mr Sweeny's office but the number did not appear to exist. I telephoned his mobile number, but this appeared to be switched off. I therefore contacted Energywatch. They in turn contacted Scottish Power and were told that Mr Sweeny was on Night duty and they would get him to call me at 9o'clock that evening when he arrived for work. No call ever came, and I myself have been on holiday. In the time my wife and I were on holiday my stepdaughter remained at home so I know no-one telephoned the house while I was away.

I note on a parallel that today was Live earth concert day to promote the ideals of reducing carbon emissions in order to help prevent climate change. They advocate the use of low energy lightbulbs and low energy appliances. They advocate using lower temperatures for washing clothes. They advocate switching off appliances rather than leaving them on standby - to what ends I ask? Certainly not to reduce energy cosumption and carbon emissions if Scottish Power are to be believed. I have already done all of the above with little to no consequence regarding my power consumption.

While I'm loosly on the subject of music festivals, I had the misfortune to be traveling home through the countryside surrounding the 'T in the Park' venue. I was horrified to note the amount of litter abandoned for miles around the area. Litter obviously related to the music festival, since it was almost exclusively Tennents Lager cans and Cartons. The area extended from The "Yetts O' Muckart" to more or less "Milnathort" and most of that stretch of the A91.