On Sunday, July 13, a buried ComEd power line broke across the road from our home, causing 220 volts to surge throughout the house. There was no outside activity that caused the break. The line just failed.

The power outage was reported to ComEd. After testing the line, they responded by stating there was power to the house and it was my problem. We went without power from Sunday to Monday. On Monday, I called Black Diamond and they dispatched an electrician, who tested the circuit breaker box and the outside electrical meter. He determined that the neutral line was broken and called ComEd on our behalf, convincing them to send out a repair crew. After locating the break, and digging a hole across the road, a repair was made and power restored.

A majority of my household electrical appliances were not operational. A ComEd employee accompanied me to help me determine what was broken. I filed a claim with ComEd, which was rejected. ComEd basically stated that there is no guarantee of absolute service, so it was not their responsibility.

I have two questions: Is it the homeowner’s responsibility to diagnose a power outage and pay an independent electrician to then notify ComEd? If a buried cable is not their responsibility, then whose is it?

Richard K. Ragni

Crystal Lake