Dear Editor,

On June 6, KREMC supplied my residence with 308 volts for a 10-hour duration (a proper supply is 220V). This overvoltage ruined my oven and washer and compromised the integrity of all my appliances running during that period. Who knows how long they will last.

I stopped by KREMC on June 7 to file a damage claim, and was told even though they would submit my claim, it would probably be denied because they are claiming it was caused by a lightning strike. This view was affirmed when I spoke with the Manager of Operations and Engineering, Kurt Carver.

I expressed how difficult it was for me to understand that lightning caused the transformer to fail because the last lightning occurred late evening May 31. Mr. Carver informed me on lightning by telling me electricity follows the path of least resistance and that lightning does weird things, so the bolt could have struck away from my home and traveled through the lines into my transformer, causing the damage. BTW, electricity does not follow the path of least resistance — it follows all paths in proportion to each path’s resistance.

Basically, what Mr. Carver told me is that all paths the current could have traveled between my house and the strike had infinite resistance, which caused the surge to go through my transformer and damage it — that is highly unlikely.

When asked if there were other ways a transformer could fail, Mr. Carver replied by stating the only ways he has seen transformers fail is by an “act of God” or a car hitting a utility pole. I am a realist, so I know any device is susceptible to mechanical failure — connections loosen, wires corrode, etc. That is the nature of the world in which we live.

Before leaving KREMC on June 7, I requested a copy of the report that was filed by the lineman explaining the problem with the transformer. When I stopped in on June 11, no one had my requested information. Later that day, the manager of Marketing and Customer Service called me and said they did not have the information available because they were still investigating the matter, but it appears to have been struck by lightning because it had a black mark on top of it. Why investigate when they knew last week it was damaged by a lightning strike? The stories do not jive.

I requested to know where the transformer was because I would like to see the black mark. She did not know and said I was getting ahead of myself and “we weren’t on the same page.” I could not agree more.

KREMC owes me a complete and factual report as to why my home was fed 308V for at least ten hours. KREMC is responsible for supplying customers with a SAFE and DEPENDABLE supply of steady-state voltage. In my case, it was neither safe, nor dependable, and they have a responsibility to make this customer whole again.

Aaron J. Boutcher
Warsaw