ONCOR to the Rescue _____Really

As the years go by, I have seen the effects of De-regulation on the energy sector. I know many of the men that work for the old TXU_ Dallas Power and Light and Texas-New Mexico Power.

Would you work in this?

In years past, when there was a need for the power company to repair or upgrade the lines and transformers, the local shop usually had a work order already pending and was just waiting for time to get to the next repair or upgrade.  These men work hard and they work in all kinds of weather. They work safe in a very very dangerous environment.

Budget cuts and stock trades and public offerings have changed the face of these companies as much as the de-regulation has. I have seen many men retire from the lineman trade and they are not replaced. The crews today are so lean and work so hard, that sometimes they cannot respond as they would like too. No fault of theirs. They amaze me with their work ethic and quality.

So,   I now have a quick story to share.

I have  been trying for the best part of  a week to get a service crew out to a house for repair work. The work is necessary because the home owner had a Federal Pacific breaker panel and it was a huge safety issue. After obtaining the city permit for the work, we had the homeowner contact their energy provider (TXU) to schedule the work order for moving the overhead wires.

TXU assured us they would have a crew at the address sometime from 8 to 11 am on Dec 1. We preceded that morning to upgrade the service and panel as the National Electric Code requires. We could not proceed past a certain point without help from the local power company (ONCOR). Oncor did not show. We repeatedly called TXU , because they are the ones that forward the  request to ONCOR.  After many explanations and excuses, we had to replace much of the work done and tell the homeower that we could not finish because ONCOR did not show. We had not got to the point of no return where the homeowner was without power while waiting on ONCOR.

Fast forward to Dec 14th. After many phone calls to TXU, we still can not convince them (txu) that we need a service truck on a certain day and we would show up whatever day they had available. They did not seem to understand that we had spent many hours on standby and had a very worried customer. They would not commit to a specific time or date.

I went to a public site called Twitter and found an account for ONCOR.  I sent them a message for help and got a reply in 5 min. They would look into it. It was now 4 pm. 

Mike Murphy with ONCOR called me as soon as he got out of meetings ( 8 pm )   I explained our predicament about the firewall TXU has and he said hang on for a few min.  He called back in 10 min to confirm a time for a service truck the next day.

I’m looking forward to seeing some of the familar faces from the line crew.  Thanks for your help Mike.  You cut through lots of needless red tape and made us a hero to a worried homeowner.

You can contact ONCOR     at    www.AskOncor.com

Jeffries Electric has worked with many power companies through the years. We have made many friends while working beside a lineman in the middle of a blizzard. We really want you to have a safe and comfortable home. We install 200 amp panels and offer a lifetime warranty on panels and breakers. We are your Denton electrician, Coppell electrician, and FlowerMound electrician. We can help you save energy by installing  energy saving lighting and quality wiring. We install awesome landscape lighting. We are your Lewisville electrician and Frisco Electrician. Call , we can help with the small and the large issues. We install new GFCI outlets and repair switches and plugs. Need more light? How bout recessed lights.