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NIE throwing switch for pensioner | NIE throwing switch for pensioner |
(about 5 hours later) | |
A County Londonderry pensioner, who was quoted £67,000 to connect his home to the national grid, will not now have to pay for the infrastructure. | |
NIE has agreed to bring its network to the isolated Seacoast Road in Downhill where 74-year-old John McCarter lives. | |
The company will charge him a connection fee, but not the cost of bringing the network to his home. | |
The pensioner, who first applied for a mains connection four years ago, said he was "absolutely delighted". | |
Mr McCarter said added that he was now looking forward to getting a central heating system installed and said it would make a "huge change" to his life, especially on cold mornings. | |
He will now pay a connection fee of between £2,000 and £3,000 instead. | |
The pensioner has lived without electricity at the property for 27 years and uses bottled gas and candles for light. | |
The decision means that other residents living along the 1.5 mile stretch of the Seacoast Road will also now benefit from a mains connection. | |
Mr McCarter's neighbour, Sydney Cooke, said he and his wife were looking forward to having their own home connected and praised the 74-year-old's perseverance. | |
"I think he really deserves it. I mean, a man of that age shouldn't have to sit without electricity" he said. | |
Loretta O'Hara from the Consumer Council, who became involved in the powerless pensioner's fight, said she understood it would "take some time" to lay the underground cabling needed. | |
Ms O'Hara also said that during the case she had been made aware that there are properties in other parts of Northern Ireland which are not connected to the mains. | |
"It is difficult to assess just how many people are, in this day and age, living without electricity. | |
"We want to ensure that people who are without an electricity supply and make an application to NIE will be quoted a fair and reasonable price" she said. |
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