CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — An 80-year-old Clayton County landlord says she has lost thousands of dollars after Georgia Power mistakenly removed the electrical meter from her rental home.
Maria Ridore said technicians removed the entire meter in January after her former tenant moved out.
“There’s no electricity,” Ridore said. “It’s very cold in here.”
Ridore said she has been unable to rent the home because it has no working power.
“I’m losing money. I can’t rent the house. Who’s going to live in a house without electricity?” she said.
Ridore said Georgia Power told her the previous tenant sent an email on Jan. 2 requesting the meter be removed because the home was going to be demolished.
“They told me that the tenant sent an email, to have the meter removed because the house was about to be demolished,” Ridore said.
When she asked for a copy of the email, Ridore said the company refused, citing privacy concerns.
“It’s privacy. They won’t give me the email,” she said.
Channel 2 Action News spoke with the former tenant, who denied sending an email requesting removal of the meter. The former tenant said she only contacted Georgia Power to disconnect service, not remove the meter.
“It affects me, because I have bills to pay too,” the former tenant said.
We are actively engaged on this case and remain in close communication with Ms. Ridore. Over the past few weeks, we’ve continued to check in with her to support the process. When we spoke with her at the end of January, she shared that she was contacting her electrician. We reached out again today, and she let us know she is currently waiting for her electrician to confirm a time to reinstall the meter box on the home. Once the meter box is securely reattached and we receive notification, we will promptly dispatch a technician to reconnect the power.
We understand the importance of getting this resolved and are doing everything we can to help move things forward.
Our team is investigating this situation. At this time, we are focusing on the most important task, which is ensuring Ms. Ridore’s service is reconnected as quickly as possible. We understand her frustrations, and we are actively engaged on this case and remain in close communication with Ms. Ridore.
— Georgia Power
Ridore said Georgia Power told her she must hire a licensed electrician and obtain a permit through Clayton County before the company can reinstall the meter and restore service.
She said she is waiting for her electrician to confirm a time to reinstall the meter box so power can be reconnected.
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