DUMB MOVE ON SMART METER INSTALL

A North Richmond resident who was miffed after BC Hydro claimed to
have uncovered a marijuana grow-op at his home, had his power restored
on Friday.

But he's out of pocket a few hundred dollars, and still hasn't
received an apology.

Ghiqing Thomas Xue contacted The Richmond Review Thursday morning, 24
hours after BC Hydro's contractor, Corix, tried to install a smart
meter at the house in which he lives with his wife and family on
Howell Court.

Xue learned around noon Wednesday that his power was out and about an
hour later, contacted police.

During a three-way call involving an investigating officer and a BC
Hydro representative, Xue heard that BC Hydro suspected a marijuana
grow-op was inside his home.

Perplexed, and knowing that was untrue, he invited the RCMP to come
over, and they found nothing that raised any concerns, he said.

But that hadn't resolved anything.

Despite no explanations about what needs fixing, Xue was at wit's end
on Thursday afternoon.

He's been advised to hire an electrician to remedy whatever issue led
the installer to believe something was amiss.

"So far, there's no answers from BC Hydro. I called a couple of times
this morning. I want to know what happened and how do I fix the
problem, but they refused."

With no power, there's no way to keep the house warm at night, no way
to cook, and no hot water for showering.

As of Thursday morning, he was no closer to any answers, and didn't
know how large a repair bill he was on the hook for.

But even once any deficiencies are addressed, Xue was told he'd have
to wait at least a week before his power is restored.

"I don't know the reason they treat me like this. I'm a human being. I
deserve respect," Xue said.

Jim Nicholson, director of customer care for BC Hydro, was apologetic
about what happened to Xue and promised to contact him directly.

"I am appalled that we have that kind of thing happening," he
said.

Nicholson explained that when the old meter was removed, there were
signs of illegal modifications or tampering.

And since repairs were needed, work that requires an electrician, the
power needed to be switched off to ensure the work could be done safely.

But Nicholson said the customer service representative who dealt with
this file should not have jumped to conclusions that the home had a
marijuana grow-op.

Nicholson said BC Hydro will make efforts to expedite the process of
restoring power to the home, and he promised to improve the
communication process, so a customer can be informed of precisely the
type of repair work that needs to be done.

"We certainly can improve that communication."

On Friday afternoon, Xue indicated he'd had his power restored and
expressed his thanks to The Richmond Review.

This is the third similar complaint involving smart meter
installations in the past month.

A older home on No. 7 Road had its power off for three weeks after
evidence of tampering was found on its old meter. But the tenant was
never informed what the problem was, and instead was told BC Hydro
suspected it was a grow-op.

And just last week, another family had its power cut, and was told it
had to pay for repairs, after the smart meter installation job was
botched. They too weren't immediately told what the problem was, and
instead were greeted by an erroneous door hangar that told them the
smart meter had successfully been installed, though it hadn't been.