Sometimes public bodies don’t need to strictly rely on legal authority to obtain a good result.

Jill, a mom with young children, contacted us when her power was disconnected. The hydro account at the house where she lived was in her sister ’s name. When her sister moved out, she closed the account with a large debt owing. Jill planned to call BC Hydro to set up an account in her name but the power was disconnected before she got around to doing so. When she called BC Hydro to set up her account and reactivate service, she was told that due to the balance owing on her sister ’s account, and because she lived with her sister when the debt was accumulated, she would be required to pay the debt before electricity could be connected.

Believing it was unfair for BC Hydro to deny her service due to her sister’s debt, Jill reached out to us.

The Electric Tariff allows BC Hydro to refuse service to an occupant who resided with another occupant at a premises where debt had accumulated. Despite this, BC Hydro was willing to open an account under Jill’s name to not unduly impact her and her children, as long as arrangements were made to pay the debt owed.

BC Hydro informed us the they had opened an account under Jill’s name and reactivated her service. Part of Jill’s sister’s balance was paid and BC Hydro offered a payment plan to clear the remainder of the debt.