A heart, and ears, too

Those are my kids, and yes, I am putting them in this column to make a non-too-subtle point: real people work at PSE, and when our customers have problems it matters to the person on the other end of the phone.

It's been a tough few days in the pages of the Seattle Times for PSE, with columnist Danny Westneat writing about a local couple coping with cancer and their financial challenges. The heart-warming side of this story is the community's reactions and willingness to help out. The heartburn side of the story for PSE is the notion we don't care when medical problems hit our customers.

Here's what I want you to know about PSE: If you're facing a tough situation such as cancer, the loss of a job or whatever, give us a call at 1-888-225-5773.

Contrary to what you might have read in the newspaper or heard on the radio, we don't just suddenly tack a notice to the door one day and say "pay up or we'll shut off the power." The cold, cruel utility suddenly cutting service is a great headline, and a grabber segment for a talk show -- but is also against the law. The notice described in the columns is the last of three notices given to customers whose accounts are overdue.

It's also against state privacy laws for us to divulge a customer's billing information, phone number, address, etc. to the media or anyone else when it is not essential for serving that customer's electric and natural gas needs. Unless a customer gives us written permission, we're pretty much left to saying "no comment," which wins few friends and little sympathy.

Any story about cancer hits me personally. My mother, Mary, died of cancer in March of 2002 and it truly brings me to tears when I think of the ups and downs that my family went through from the time she was diagnosed in August 1999 until her death at the age of 65.

I write this not to say that my experience with my mother is anything to pity or take sympathy on, but to communicate that the big, bad utility is really just people like you going to work each day and trying to do their best while dealing with all that life throws our way.

Vera Fuchs, one of our call center specialists, is the lady who works with people such as the gentleman that Danny Westneat wrote about. She, too, lost someone to cancer -- her husband. A big part of her job is helping the 1540 customers we have with what are called "medical seals" that help protect from disconnections for those with a health crisis.

In a jam? We want to hear from you, and when you call the person on the other end will be right here in our area -- not another state, another country or another continent.

You'll speak to a real live human being, such as Vera, who's had a lot of the same life experiences -- and can walk you through the options for paying your bill and getting out of whatever life has thrown your way.