ELECTRICITY
VICTIMS
(Publication date: 24 January 2007)
In recent days, I have
heard the same complaint over and over, in many different settings and from people from all walks of life...
There is a general sense of
grievance.
It seems that the
authorities are either unaware of this grievance, are not at fault, or are ignoring this important issue because it does not suit them.
Today, I will write about
this on the assumption that the authorities in question are unaware of it.
I hope that bringing it to
their attention will prompt them to do something about it...
Even if it does not suit
them...
***
First of all, I would like to
thank the electricity utility for taking into account part of an article I wrote earlier!
My regular readers will
remember: in my article titled “As If...” published on 22 December 2007, I wrote that the statement in the electricity utility’s announcements about power cuts—“The public is asked to act as if electricity were available on the network at all times, since electricity may be supplied before or after the stated time, depending on the progress of the work”—made no sense.
Since then, this warning has
not appeared in announcements issued by the electricity utility.
That is a welcome
development from a logical standpoint; however, in the same article, I had said that announcements of the kind “There will be power cuts in ........, ...... areas,” made when electricity is cut off because of weather conditions in our country or for no apparent reason, are a luxury at this point.
Apparently, the utility, which
does not accept the reality that power cuts can happen at any time, is determined to continue issuing these unnecessary announcements.
Don’t get me wrong: these
warnings are harmless—in fact, they are useful—but, as I just said, they are a luxury at this point...
(By the way, you can read the
full article published on 22 December 2007 at www.cemkar.net ...)
*
Anyway, let’s get back to our
main subject...
The grievance I mentioned in
the introduction to my article is this:
Breakdowns in products that
run on electricity, both in homes and in workplaces, caused by frequent power cuts...
Wherever I have been in
recent days, I have heard complaints about this from people from almost every walk of life.
Some people’s refrigerators,
others’ televisions, air conditioners, and so on have broken down because of the frequent power cuts.
People are voicing their
complaints about this; but, left without recourse, they are paying to have the broken items repaired themselves, causing them serious financial hardship.
As I said earlier, the
general public’s view is that frequent power cuts are the reason electronic appliances break down!
I don’t know the technical
details of the issue very well.
In other words, are power
cuts the only reason devices that run on electricity break down?
Or are there other factors
as well? I don’t know...
In any case, it doesn’t
concern me.
What does concern me is that,
despite the prevailing public view on this issue, the authorities in our country have made no statement about the current practices or compensation arrangements relating to it.
*
There are also practices in
some countries for dealing with situations like this.
The closest example is
Turkey.
In Turkey, as of 1 January
2007:
An electricity distributor
that causes more than 14 hours of power cuts in a residence over the course of a year without giving 48 hours’ notice is required to pay compensation!
In addition, the outage limit
for industry is 8 hours; if this limit is exceeded, compensation is deducted from the next bill.
And best of all:
The distribution company also
pays for electronic appliances damaged by power cuts.
*
I don’t know whether the
consumer association will take action on this or the utility will; but this is the situation.
This problem should also be
brought to the attention of government officials, who mention EU standards at every opportunity.
I hope our governments,
institutions, and organizations do not leave their own people to suffer hardship…
See you on Friday… Be
respectful in traffic!
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