On Contracts and Services

The water supplier in our area recently ‘upgraded’ their service and as a consequence, all of us homeowners have to sign a new contract. I am a guy that likes to read ‘fine print’, the excuse people make when a contract goes awry. Believe me, reading the ‘fine print’ on every contract is worth the extra effort.

How do contracts relate to electricity? It’s in the service. My water supply contract is vague on certain issues like:

a) How much water pressure will the supplier provide?
b) Is water service for 24 hours daily?

The same is true for my ISP provider. Their promo says “Up to XXX Mbps” but the contract states that “due to the nature of the service, the promo is not attainable and the supplier is not responsible for it, blah blah blah”. This, to me, is a cop out of the supplier.

Electricity suppliers, on the other hand, have to contend with the laws of the land, a Code where conditions must be met before supplying electricity. To quote some standards:

a) Voltage regulation must be between 110% and 90% of the nominal voltage
b) Frequency must be between 60.3Hz to 59.7Hz
c) Voltage Harmonics must be less than 5% THD at PCC
d) Voltage Unbalance must be less than 2.5% at PCC

I don’t think water and ISP suppliers will be able to provide standards like this even after a long time. Comparing my water and electric bill having zero consumption, the service charge for water is much, much higher. This means the service that do not provide standards is more expensive than the service with a multitude of them.

I am proud of these standards; this means that electricity that goes to my home is uniform and predictable. I can safely buy an electric appliance knowing that the electricity will power the appliance and not damage it. And I know that the quality of electricity that goes to Mr. Rich’s mansion or Mr. Politician’s manor will be the same as mine. I cannot say the same thing for my water supply; an overhead tank is out since I cannot be sure that the water pressure would be able to fill it.

People often take electricity for granted. They must realize that the service entails a lot more than just plugging in the nearest outlet.