Debbie Creel - Local disabled Buford Woman vs. Georgia Power

BUFORD - Debbie Creel, lifelong resident of Buford, suffers from advanced rheumatoid arthritis. Despite that, she works full time from home and pays ALL her bills well before services are scheduled to be cut-off.

So why did Georgia Power terminate her electric service over a week ago?  Because Miss Creel began paying her electric bill at the last minute, due to the slow economy.  This apparently prompted Georgia Power to demand an $825 increase in her deposit that she simply could not afford.  So Georgia Power disconnected her service until she can come up with the increase in deposit.

Miss Creel NEVER received a bill for the increase in her deposit.  No has she ever received a bill for the additional $1,350 Georgia Power has now added to her bill that is in another person's name - quite possibly at a different address.  She also never received a bill for an additional bill in the amount of $1,150 they added to her bill for who knows what.  She certainly doesn't because she hasn't received a bill.  We verified that Miss Creel has not only paid the last Georgia Power bill she received - IN FULL and ON TIME. 

So with every bill she ever received from Georgia power paid in full, she still marched down to their local office with every penny of her food & medication money in-hand and paid them $500 in cash, in good faith, so that she and her pets could have their heat and lights re-connected.  After turning over her every penny as they instructed - she asked when she could expect to have her power turned back on.  They laughed in her face and told her to go find another $1,000 and they'll consider it.  This will force Miss Creel to give her medical insurance money to the power company and spend the rest of her life uninsured.

The ONLY way Miss Creel has to raise additional money is to work from home on her computers.  The only way she can do that is with electricity.  So she's bundled up in bed with her Australian Shepherd "Buster" and her Tabby cat "Pedro" with absolutely no relief in sight.  She's borrowed as much as she could from relatives to buy the small amount of food she has for her and her pets, and now she's developed a persistent cough that sometimes produces blood.

She has no gas in her car to drive to any medical facilities, no money to purchase medicine if she could and refuses to leave her pets to freeze to death. She's lucky she lives so close to so many trees.  Her neighbors get together regularly to make sure she at least has fire wood to burn.

Even a small generator might help to provide her with warmth when the temperature drops into the 30's in the evenings, but she doesn't even have the gas to keep one running.  Plus, she's called everyone she knows and simply can't find one to borrow.

Miss Creel's cell phone is now disconnected, so this reporter will drop by her home as much as possible to see if anything can be done, but things are tough all over.  Last weekend - the temperatures dropped down to 22 degrees. 

If anyone has any suggestions that might help Debbie Creel of Buford, Georgia - it may be best to contact us at (404) 759-7277 or email her at debbie-creel@att.net .  We promised we'd check her emails for her and print out any that might come in.  Our staff has had numerous conversations with Georgia Power managers and apparently nothing but money will satisfy the monopoly's unbridled greed.  Apparently, not even their causing the death of their customers.

More on Debbie Creel of Buford...
Approximately 10 years ago, Miss Creel lost her husband to cancer of the liver.  He left her nearly a half million dollars that she invested in posting the news for the Gwinnett Daily Post Online for almost three years.  She had always hoped to be paid something for her tireless efforts but never was and had to stop when her money ran out.

Many great things have come from her life-long efforts.  In fact, two children who had been kidnapped and smuggled to the Cayman Islands were reunited with their parents as a direct result of Miss Creel's efforts.  ( Link to actual news story  concerning the kidnapping & rescue)  There are about a dozen or so additional success stories equally as amazing she's responsible for.  We had to research this ourselves because Miss Creel doesn't mention these things herself.  She does state that those were some of the most rewarding times of her life, and would do them all over again without changing a single thing.

Let's hope Miss Creel survives this cold, wet weather to continue her life-long run of good work for others.

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