Somerset deaths trigger new state regs

More than a year after a family of eight was fatally poisoned by carbon monoxide from a portable generator they used to heat their home, new requirements for service termination that could be life-saving are in effect.

Effective Monday, Aug. 15, utility providers must contact an occupant in person or by posted notice at the premise upon the termination of alleged meter tampering or hazardous conditions at the structure, according to the Maryland Public Service Commission. Before the measure, a utility company operating in Maryland by law could terminate service without notice under those circumstances, and contact with the structure’s occupant was not mandatory.

Along with the required on-site termination notice, a utility must inform occupants of a dwelling about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning from portable generators, as well as about energy assistance and information about procedures to restore utility service.

The new, so-called theft-of-energy regulations apply to service terminations that are not due to nonpayment of a utility bill. They take effect after an outcry from state, local and neighborhood leaders who say the fatal outcome perhaps could have been prevented with a notification system that flags authorities.

Princess Anne father Rodney Todd and seven of his children died in April 2015 of accidental CO poisoning from a generator off their kitchen, a contraption Todd is believed to have purchased to heat the home on Antioch Avenue in Princess Anne after Delmarva Power removed a stolen electric meter and shut off power.

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State, local and community leaders said the family could have been spared had the utility provider notified local authorities about the alleged stolen electric meter. Notification could have triggered a probe that would have sent authorities or social service agencies to the home sooner, critics of the utility procedure said at the time.

“Innocent residents can be affected through immediate service termination,” said State Sen. James Mathias, Jr., D-38-Worcester. “The tragic loss of the Todd family in my district caused me to work effectively with the Public Service Commission and other stakeholders to improve our policy, and likely save innocent lives in the future.”

The family is believed to have been dead at the home several days during the Easter holiday in 2015 when a Todd co-worker went to authorities to report him missing. Todd worked in food service at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and his children, ranging in age 6 to 15, attended elementary and high schools in Somerset County.

After the tragedy, the local fire department and public schools pushed CO detectors or education, and marked the first anniversary of the deaths with a community walk to raise awareness and money for the purchase of CO detectors for local homes.

Regulation revisions also require utility companies to notify the PSC within 24 hours of a service shut-off if the termination is due to alleged theft or meter tampering, or other unauthorized use of electricity or gas service. The PSC would in turn add the address of the service termination to an electronic database for use by local governments to extend assistance to a structure’s occupants.

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The database launches in the weeks to come, and utilities have until Jan. 1, 2017 to establish a local notification system with local governments in their service region, PSC spokeswoman Tori Leonard said Tuesday.

“They must tell us, so local government can have access to it,” Leonard said. “Before, local governments did not necessarily know whose service was terminated.”

If theft of a utility is not a suspected issue, yet the occupant is using hit without an active account, a utility company must provide in-person written notice at least three days prior to service termination, the PSC said. If the notice is mailed,  seven days prior to shut-off is required.

The ultimate goal of the PSC is to afford all occupants access to safe and legal utility service, the agency said.

“Our goal with these regulations is to make sure individuals and families have every avenue possible to obtain utility services in a way that is safe and lawful,” said W. Kevin Hughes, Chairman of the Maryland PSC. “This new process also gives local governments the information and resources they need to assist residents whose utility service has been terminated for theft or for use without an active account.”

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