Seabrook couple lost power while AT&T contractor worked in backyard, but no one takes responsibility

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A Seabrook couple has a growing bill to restore their home to its shape when they left on a trip earlier in the month.

While Debbie and her husband were away, a subcontractor for AT&T went into her backyard to lay fiber lines on Dec. 5.

Two days later, Debbie said she got an email from someone watching her home saying that her pool pump was not working and algae was growing. They also noted that she did not have electricity at her home.

She looked at her weekly electricity usage report and found that she used 19 kWh/day the week before the work in her yard. Starting Dec. 5, the same day the work was done, she used 1 kWh.

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When she and her husband returned home on Dec. 10, they found that all the food in their refrigerator and freezer had spoiled, and they were still without power. An electrician told them to contact CenterPoint to determine the issue.

According to Debbie, CenterPoint said it appeared the electric line had been "yanked," which caused the issue.

"I wasn't even home, so clearly I didn't do it," Debbie said. "You can't blame a dog. You can't blame a squirrel. You can't blame a raccoon. It was so deep down, and when Digco, the CenterPoint contractor, came back out and dug and showed us how it had been yanked out of the transformer box, that was pretty clear evidence there."

Debbie reached out to Ansco for help. On Dec. 22, she said she received an email back from the company saying in part, "ATT contractor would not have damaged it pot-holing or digging bore pits as those holes would be in the path of the bore, note 3 feet off of the bore path."

"The AT&T subcontractor, not a good choice of words, said that my complaint had been closed in the last email," Debbie said. "I consider it a case. I don't consider it a complaint. I'm not complaining."

Ansco blames CenterPoint because they were in her backyard in October looking for a gas leak.

"Where the gas lines run in the area where the electric line damage occurred is approximately one foot away, and the gas lines are deeper than the electric service, so they would have to dig past the electric service to get to the gas pipe and their hole would have to be bigger because of the depth," Ansco said in a Dec. 22 email to Debbie.

But Debbie argues that she did not lose power then.

"They said damages can happen, and it shows up months later, so it's just very coincidental that it happened the day you were jostling the ground in my yard," Debbie said.

RELATED: NW Houston residents seeking reimbursement after AT&T contractors damage yard lines

She said she followed up with CenterPoint, and they said it was something other than their doing.

Meanwhile, Debbie's pool has turned green because she has not been able to run her pool pump. After all, it does not work. She said she scrubbed her refrigerator and freezer but could not remove the smell.

"Even though we have cleaned it and cleaned it, it still has that horrific smell of the meat juices for all the meat that had defrosted inside the freezer," Debbie said.

She is paying $476 monthly for a "bypass line," so she has electricity, which does not include her monthly usage cost. That is only a temporary fix.

Electricians have quoted her over $6,000 to run a new electric line in her backyard.

"Close to $2,000 to restore the pool from the pool company," Debbie said. "The contents of my refrigerator. I have a list. I haven't even totaled that yet."

AT&T sent a statement to ABC13 regarding the matter:

"As we work to bring high-speed fiber internet to more communities, our goal is to minimize impact on residents as much as possible. The contractor that worked on this project has investigated this claim and determined our fiber installation work did not damage any buried utilities at this location. They've shared these findings with the homeowner."

ABC13 followed up by asking a spokesperson if they believed the drop in electricity usage on the day their subcontractor was present in her yard was a coincidence.

They have yet to respond.

A request for an explanation from Ansco also went unanswered Friday afternoon.

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