SoCal Edison Settles With Homeowners After Pot-Growing Tenant Racks Up $140K Bill
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Southern California Edison has settled a lawsuit filed by two Rowland Heights women who claimed the utility company kept their home in the dark after a marijuana-growing tenant racked up a $140,000 electric bill and the women refused to pay.
Shu Chih Sun and her daughter-in-law, Mitha Pratiwi, filed the suit Feb. 19, accusing SoCal Edison of breaching their service agreement, as well as intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
According to court documents, Pratiwi's husband signed an agreement to lease a home they owned in Corona from February 2009 to October 2011. The tenant stayed on after the lease expired on a month-to-month basis until he was arrested for illegally growing pot there in March 2013. Until that time, he allegedly had gotten away with his growing enterprise by bypassing the Edison meter.
In April 2013, Pratiwi said she received a bill from Edison for $138,577 for "unauthorized use of service from March 21, 2010, to March 20, 2013."
The suit claims that even though the Corona property was under Pratiwi's name, the tenant was required to pay the electric bills.
In November, Pratiwi received a demand for payment from Edison under threat of a disconnection of electricity. Sun received a similar notice in January, according to the suit, which stated the electricity was turned off from her Rowland Heights home on Feb. 6.
The electricity was restored to the home last month and both sides agreed there would be no further interruptions for 60 days as they worked towards a resolution.
The plaintiff's attorney has not released the settlement amount.
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