By Jackie DeFusco
SCOTT COUNTY, Va. (WJHL) - June 5, 2018 was Ferne Grimm's 92nd birthday.
The widow, known for her faith and spunk, was living alone in Upper Possum Creek, a neighborhood enclosed by mountains in rural Scott County,Va.
Carol Alley, Grimm's daughter, didn't call before visiting her mother that morning. She knew her landline had been out for six days and no one in the neighborhood has cell service.
Society wanted deregulation. That means companies will operate like any business and serve only profitable customers, and not serve unprofitable ones. So, this is what we got.
The local newspaper has reported (and I posted here) similar incidents in outlying Verizon territory. They don't care about rural subscribers.
The same is happening with electric power deregulation. Sure, we have a trifling amount taken off of our electric bills. But the electric companies have cut back mainline and local grid maintenance, so power failures are more frequent and recovery takes longer. Further, the national grid is used to sell power for profit, which was not what it was built to do, adding a further load and outage risk to it.
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Ask the community — no account required