Should We Be Cutting Power To The Elderly?

Our sister station KFYO is reporting about a tense situation in Lubbock today.  Read more after the break.

Check out this snippet of a story from our sister station KFYO:

A 74-year-old man emerged from his house in the 1300 block of East 17^th Street just after 1 p.m. wielding a shotgun, after two Lubbock Power and Light employees had disconnected his electricity.

Okay, I don't believe in a free ride for anybody, but a little understanding might be called for in these tough times.  It was just a matter of time before something like this happened.  The family explained the man had Alzheimer's.  The question is, do we want to be shutting power off on 103 degree days? Yes, things have to be paid for, but when the temps are this hot you are putting peoples lives on the line.  Do we want "our home owned utility" responsible for actual deaths, or do we run it in a cold blooded manner.  I really don't know what the answer is.  The power company has to pay for the power; we can't just let people make the city broke.  A better solution might be to suspend disconnects until September' but then again that could allow people to rack up huge bills then split town.

I don't really have an answer here, are there any thoughts from you guys?