Why a renters' rights advocate launched a website to fight the (Newfoundland) Power

A St. John's renters' rights advocate is fed up with Newfoundland Power's collection practices, and he wants to hear from people who feel the same way.

Sherwin Flight, who runs a landlord-tenant Facebook support page, recently launched yournlpowerstories.com after deciding people with grievances against the utility should be able to connect.

"I've always been the kind of person that, when I identify an issue that affects a lot of people, I try to see if there's a way to work to resolve that," he said.

Visa, MasterCard don't come phoning around asking who you're living with.- Sherwin Flight

"Complaining only gets you so far, so I figured by putting stories together in one place where people could see them, it would be a lot better to understand the issues that people are facing and the problems that we would like to see resolved."

Most of the stories he's seen so far fall under the "other occupant" clause, he said.

"That's where people are refused service or are disconnected based on other people they're living with owing money to Newfoundland Power," he said.

One submission reads, "Would really love to know who gave NL power techs the authority to knock on random doors and demand to know who is living at said residence. Nothing but arrogance working for that company."

Flight says that story doesn't surprise him.

"We've heard from landlords that have wanted to include heat and light in the rent, so when the landlord that owned the property went to connect power in their own name, they were told that they were not allowed because of who the landlord was renting to," he said. "The other occupant clause is really causing a lot of trouble."

Flight said he believes the clause was introduced to prevent a couple from running up a big bill in one person's name and then switching to the other to avoid paying it.

'Collateral damage'

"But that's not who they're really catching up. They're catching up roommates that don't know each other that have just moved in together for the first time or people starting new relationships. There's a lot of collateral damage."

There are privacy concerns around demanding to know who's in a residence apart from an owner or lease-holder, said Flight.

"When someone hits rock bottom and they're trying to get back on their feet, to have Newfoundland Power come sniffing around, trying to figure out where they are so they can threaten to disconnect power and all that stuff, is really not a good way to get someone back on their feet and back being productive. It's kind of an odd policy."

'We don't have a choice'

Flight acknowledges that Newfoundland Power needs some way to be able to collect overdue bills.

"There are plenty of business around the world every day that have to deal with overdue accounts and collecting money, and they all have procedures that they follow in terms of collection agencies and small-claims court and reporting to credit agencies, and all of these things," he said.

"These are tools that every business uses on a daily basis, but somehow, with Newfoundland Power, considering that we don't have a choice but to deal with them, rather than having protections in place for the consumer since we don't have a choice, they've actually been given a lot more power in terms of how they can go about collecting money."

The utility should use the same collection practices private businesses do, said Flight.

"Visa, MasterCard, they don'tcome knocking on your door. They don't come phoning around asking who you're living with and all this other stuff. So there's no need for Newfoundland Power to do that either, because the courts and the law allow for businesses to collect the past-due balance in a reasonable way, and we don't feel that this is very reasonable."

Newfoundland Power declined a request for an interview, but a written statementsaid the utility can't comment on individual cases.

"Since individual situations vary, it's important for our customer service representatives to be able to work one-on-one with our customers so that they can get the appropriate information they need to assist them," reads the statement.

"The approved guidelines and procedures that we follow are reviewed regularly to ensure they continue to be consistent with utility industry best practices."

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With files from The St. John's Morning Show