Overdue bill threatens life support

From The Flint Journal in Flint, Michigan:

Bedridden with a chronic lung disease, Patricia Alsteen depends on machines to help her breathe.

But the mother of four said she's worried that her electricity will be shut off because she can't pay a sizable power bill that accrued, in part, because of her life-support equipment.

For weeks, Consumers Energy Co. has been threatening to shut off her services, she said.

"I understand I owe them money," said Alsteen, 43. "I would pay it if I had it."

A spokesman said Consumers is holding the account open while she works with agencies that might be able to help with her energy bills.

"We are waiting to hear back from the customer about contact she made with some other agencies, and we're continuing to work with her on a payment plan," said spokesman Terry DeDoes.

Alsteen said she is on Social Security and hasn't been able to work for several years. She has a caregiver and lives with her four children, ages 7-18, and a grandchild, 2.

She's been hospitalized several times over the past year, including once for a bout with pneumonia that nearly killed her, she said.

"Every time I go in the hospital, I have to pay somebody to come and take care of my children," she said.

During the day, she receives oxygen from a machine through a trachea tube. At night, she is on a ventilator.

Over the winter, Alsteen paid about $230 a month to Consumers under a seasonal billing protection plan, she said. But because she used about twice that amount of energy, a bill of more than $2,000 came due when the plan ended in May, she said.

A recent television news report on her situation drew a couple of donations, including $450 from an Owosso woman who took up her cause and started a fund at Charter One Bank in Owosso.

The benefactor, Jenny Roberts, said the overdue power bill is literally a life-and-death situation for Alsteen.

"When she was crying, I was crying," Roberts said. "She said, 'If they shut off my life support, I'll die.'"

DeDoes said Alsteen didn't need to pay the entire balance.

Consumers granted a 14-day extension for her to pay an agreed-upon sum, then cut the payment to $321, DeDoes said. A church stepped in and covered that bill, he and Alsteen said.

The utility also sent forms on a discounted rate for life-support equipment, along with a list of agencies she might call for help, he said.

Alsteen said she already receives the discounted rate and hasn't been able to find much assistance.

"I called agencies, I called churches - everywhere I could think of or where people told me to call," she said. "None of the agencies had money.

"I feel kind of like a bum asking people for help. I'm not that kind of person."

Consumers planned to speak with Alsteen on Monday to discuss her situation, DeDoes said.

"We encourage customers to call us as soon as they believe they are going to have a problem paying a bill, and not when they receive a shutoff notice," he said.

"That way, we have more time to set up payment plans and work with a customer."

Donations can be sent to The Patricia Alsteen Fund, c/o Jenny Roberts, c/o Charter One, 200 E. Main St., Owosso.