InvestigateTV+: Not all utility companies have to extend deadlines for life support customers
(InvestigateTV) — InvestigateTV+ uncovers how your zip code could determine if you’re protected from a shutoff in the event you need electricity for life-sustaining medical equipment.
Then, we discover how parking garage cameras are used to track cars and sometimes send surprise bills to their owners.
Plus, we take an in-depth look at a program that’s teaching Black fathers lifesaving knowledge.
Not all utility companies are required to extend deadlines for customers on life support
Owners of cell phones and electric vehicles get anxiety when they see their batteries drop to three percent.
For Tina Marsden, who has a pump attached to her heart, it’s a matter of life or death.
Marsden has a left ventricular assist device (LVAD). When its batteries drain after 12 hours, “my pump’s going to stop, and then my heart can stop,” she said.
Because Marsden’s heart condition has left her disabled, she often has trouble paying all her bills on time.
“I can come home with a new prescription, and then, all of a sudden, I can’t afford this prescription,” Marsden said. “So I have to decide between paying a light bill or paying part of a light bill, to be able to get maybe a 15-day supply and not a 30-day supply of a prescription.”
Marsden has Griffin Power, one of nearly 50 city-owned electric utilities in Georgia. City power utilities, along with 41 electric membership cooperatives (EMCs), city power utilities are not regulated by the Georgia Public Service Commission.
Cities and EMCs are not required to provide any grace period for life support customers before turning off their electricity.
Georgia Power is required to provide an extra 30 days for customers dependent on medical equipment. Griffin Power provides a single day beyond the seven-day grace period that all customers get after their bill’s due date.
Because cities like Griffin combine electricity, garbage and water charges into a single bill, a customer unable to pay for trash collection will get their power disconnected. That has happened to Marsden at least four times.
Class action lawsuits filed against garages, lots using cameras to identify license plates
Jared Hill found out how much eight minutes and two seconds could cost you.
On Nov. 15, 2024, he and his wife were eager to get to their dinner reservation in the Gulch and paid to park for two hours at the Premium garage at 1000 Division Street.
Like parking lots around the city, the garage uses cameras to identify license plates to track how long a vehicle remains parked.
After dinner, they ran into a friend and ended up talking, returning to their car and driving away.
Days later, he received a parking invoice in the mail, reading that because he parked in the garage for eight minutes and two seconds over the allotted time he’d paid for, the fines and fees he incurred could be $100 if he paid after a certain date.
St. Louis man finds purpose through pain, creating ‘Dads to Doulas’ program
An alarming statistic shows that 20,000 babies are dying before their first birthday.
The infant mortality rate increased for the first time in two decades in 2022, and babies born to Black mothers have a rate nearly two times the national rate, according to the March of Dimes.
A St. Louis man is working to turn his loss into hope with a program to educate and support Black fathers.
Hospital harpist eases the wait for patients, visitors
Gentle notes drift through the still space of the room.
“We’re easing everybody into a calm atmosphere, waiting for their families,” said Peggy Skudera, volunteer and student services manager.
The angelic sound offers quiet comfort every Thursday at McLeod Seacoast Hospital, their busiest day for same-day surgery.,
“I wasn’t sure the harp was the best place to be in a hospital because my thought was, next stop is heaven,” said Skudera.
But it’s been music to her ears for more than a year after hiring the harpist, who is part of the volunteer and student services program.
- Submit story tips to our Investigators
- Share errors or concerns with our Digital Editors
- Watch full episodes of InvestigateTV+
- Subscribe to the InvestigateTV YouTube Channel
Copyright 2025 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
