I, too, have a deep love for the power company. Years back, I operated a
body shop I bought as a going concern from the founder. I transferred
electricity and gas utilities to my name, and paid the bills on time.
Almost a year later, Communist Edison sent me a letter demanding a $1000
deposit because I was a 'new business'. I asked the person at the office
what would happen if I refused to give them the money. They said they would
cut off my power.
I told them to go ahead - I did not need them! I installed a 75 kW three
phase alternator driven by a Toyota 3RC engine, burning natural gas. Two
days later I was up and running my own 'utility'. In the six months I did
this, I estimated I saved about 20% on what I would have spent for their
power, including maintainance on the generator. In the cold months, I also
used the waste heat for reducing demand on the space heaters.
I called them up and requested to be hooked up again after learning that the
gas cost was going to double. CE had me back on line in a day, and did not
ask for a deposit - it seemed that I was now an 'established business' and
therefore trustworthy.
I guess the original desksitters had moved on by that time, or they have a
really short corporate memory..
Chuck Kuecker