Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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March 9, 2010

Lights out in Pocahontas?

Local non-profit organization could be left in the dark

By CHARLES OWENS

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

POCAHONTAS, Va. — A non-profit organization that is charged with revitalizing downtown Pocahontas could soon be operating in the dark.

Tommy Childress, grants and properties chairman of Historic Pocahontas Inc., was shocked Monday to receive a cut-off notice from Appalachian Power as a result of a  $1,356.83 electric bill. The letter indicated the lights would be cut off today if the bill wasn’t paid.

“We are listed as commercial, but we are non-profit,” Childress said. “I called and told them we could have the money to them possibility tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow. They said they couldn’t do that because we are a commercial establishment. I explained to them we aren’t. I demanded to speak to a supervisor. She transferred me to a supervisor in Michigan.”

About 30 minutes after contacting the Daily Telegraph, Childress said he received a phone call from an Appalachian Power representative in Bluefield who indicated the non-profit agency would now have until Wednesday to pay the bill. Childress said Historic Pocahontas receives quarterly appropriations from the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors, but those funds had not been appropriated as of Monday. With the two-day extension, Childress said he is now hopeful that Historic Pocahontas will be able to pay the power bill by Wednesday’s deadline.

If the lights are cut off, it would have an adverse impact on the non-profit entity.

“For example, I won’t be able to use the phone,” Childress said. “Also, there is a Southwest Virginia Community College class that takes place in the building. They would be in the dark and without heat. That’s ridiculous.”

When contacted by the Daily Telegraph, Todd Burns, a corporate communications manager for Appalachian Power, said the customer wouldn’t be disconnected.

“It’s frustrating, very frustrating,” Childress said. “I got a hold of David Larimer (in Sen. Phillip Puckett’s office), and he said he would call someone on the state Corporation Commis-sion, and someone with Appalachian Power.”

– Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com

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