If you’ve ever been without power for any length of time, you know how inconvenient it can be. But when a storm or other disaster causes your neighborhood’s power to go out for a long time, that lack of electricity can be more than just a nuisance; it can also be quite expensive.
From rotting food in your refrigerator to the items defrosting in your freezer, the costs can really add up. Add to the equation the fact that you’ll lose access to the appliances that are needed to keep your home protected, like sump pumps, and you could easily be looking at thousands of dollars in damage.
According to Fox 32, homeowner Morgan Webb says she had a problem with the latter while her power was out recently. But she doesn’t blame the storms that caused the neighborhood to go dark for several days.
Instead, she says she has proof that one of the ComEd crews working to restore power actually turned her generator off, causing the pumps to fail while her family was away.
Her Webb Says Her Security Camera Captured the Whole Thing
Fox 32 received footage from the security camera, which Webb says shows a ComEd contractor walking over to the generator that was sitting on her driveway. In the video, the contractor appears to turn the generator off, which Webb claims shut down the sump pumps in her basement.
“I’m pretty upset, I’m not going to lie,” she later told Fox 32. “I know everyone is dealing with the power being out in Indiana, but to be up for four days not sleeping, monitoring that, making sure my basement stays dry, and then for someone to just come and shut it off.”
Webb was able to reach out to ComEd, which says that the crew member shut down the generator to avoid energy backfeeding into the electrical system, and the power was back on within 20 minutes. The company offered to cover the damages caused by the pump failure, but Webb says that it’s about more than just the money.
That’s because her children’s rooms were located in the basement, and with the start of school just days away, she’s now left scrambling to get everything fixed and ready in time for the first day.
What is Backfeeding?
There’s a reason why ComEd workers may have been concerned about having a generator running while they were working to restore the power. According to Safe Electricity, generators can send electricity back into the power lines when improperly connected, creating a potentially hazardous situation called backfeeding.
This can be dangerous for line workers and anyone else who may be near the power lines when the backfeeding happens.