Power struggle

COEUR d'ALENE - Unpleasant surprises are expected when settling into a new home, but Brittany Thompson and Tristan Nielsen weren't prepared for this.

After recently moving into a Coeur d'Alene home, the married couple and their two young children went without power for a day and a half, they said.

The explanation from a Kootenai Electric Cooperative representative caught them off guard.

They needed to pay the previous tenant's bill, they were told.

"We said, 'It's not our account, we need to switch it to our account," said Thompson, a stay-at-home mom. "The (utility rep) said 'Nope, you need to pay the bill.'"

The couple, who had already been living in Coeur d'Alene, moved to the home on Jan. 14, Thompson said, with their 7-month-old and 2-year-old children.

They had brief contact with the previous tenant, the landlord's daughter.

The family didn't call KEC right away about their electricity, Thompson said, as the power was on when they moved in. The landlord said the utility account was still in the prior tenant's name.

"She said, 'Get settled in and then switch (the account) over,'" Thompson recalled.

The family woke up on Thursday morning to discover the power was off.

When they called KEC, they learned they were expected to pick up the previous resident's balance.

The couple had never heard of a utility requiring that, Thompson said.

"We said, 'Well how much do we have to pay?' and (the rep) said, 'I can't give you that information, because you're not on the account,'" Thompson said. "We said, 'What? You expect us to pay a bill that you can't tell us the amount of, for an account we're not even on?'"

The couple called the past tenant, who contacted KEC. The utility followed up that the family had to pay a $300 deposit fee and the tenant's balance, totaling about $600.

Thompson said she and her husband, a construction worker recently returned from service in Iraq, couldn't afford the bill. They had just forked over $1,200 to move into the house, she said.

They found the situation outrageous anyway, she added.

"It's unbelievable to me that they can do this," Thompson said on Friday morning, when the home was still in the dark. "It's like me saying 'You need to come pay my rent, because I've spoken with you once and you're responsible.'"

Nielsen said that to their knowledge, their landlord and KEC hadn't communicated on the matter.

KEC generally doesn't require a tenant to pay the prior tenant's past-due balance to start service, according to utility spokesperson Erika Neff.

"However, in some cases, when a landlord or landlord's agent informs KEC that a tenant is responsible for prior billing, KEC is caught in the middle," Neff stated.

The utility is always willing to work with those involved to correctly bill accounts, she added.

"There is confusion for all parties when tenants and landlords do not communicate tenant changes with utilities," Neff stated.

Thompson reported that by early Friday afternoon, discussions with the utility went smoother.

KEC agreed to treat the family like "brand new customers," Thompson said. The couple was given options to get power back that day, without having to pay the past tenant's balance.

"I'm unsure as to who decided they should be doing the right thing," Thompson said.

That didn't erase the 24-plus hours they were without power, she said, especially overnight in the middle of winter.

"It was definitely wearing lots and lots of layers of clothing last night," she said on Friday. "I don't think being in the dark has ever been fun for anybody, or being in the cold."

Attempts to reach the couple's landlord were unsuccessful on Friday.

Neff couldn't discuss the details of this case, or why the utility changed its tune about the due balance.

KEC usually provides plenty of notice before disconnecting power, Neff stated.

"Of those that are unable to pay their bills, we ask that they contact us to discuss their situation," she stated, adding that more than 90 percent of members pay their bills on time.

Avista Utilities disconnected roughly 5 percent of its 141,000 Idaho members in 2012. The utility gives advance notice, said spokeswoman Debbie Simock, so no one is ever surprised.

Avista does not require members to pay the balance of a previous resident, Simock added.

"Any balance owing after an account is closed follows the customer who had the account. It doesn't follow their residence," Simock said.

KEC doesn't track how often disconnects over prior tenant bills occur, Neff stated.

"Any number of these situations is too many," she wrote in an email. "We continue to work with landlords and tenants to educate them on the importance of notifying us of tenant changes, so these situations won't happen."