State wants utilities to discuss potential shutoff changes

LANSING – The state wants utilities to discuss potential changes to the way they handle service shutoffs after the death of a Detroit-area man.

The Michigan Public Service Commission said Monday companies should submit ways to better reach elderly residents who are most at risk during a shutoff in extreme weather.

The body of 69-year-old John Skelley was discovered in February in a Hazel Park home where natural gas service had been shut off. He died of hypothermia and other causes.

Consumers Energy says it sent three notices before cutting service, but Skelley wasn’t the customer of record and the utility was unaware he lived there.

Vanessa Waters, a spokeswoman for DTE Energy, tells the Detroit Free Press (http://on.freep.com/1J1gQqT ) the company welcomes the chance to “review, learn and share best practices.”

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Information from: Detroit Free Press, http://www.freep.com