Let’s Organize for a Better Way

I lived blocks away from the power shut off locations. I was greatly relieved to have kept my power but held so much empathy for my neighbors in walking distance who did not have power.

Throughout this experience, I felt emotional for those directly effected and after reading through some of these stories I am so very sad for their experiences.

Our children missed half a week of school due to the power being shut off. The issue being, once the power is off - it takes days to be turned back on. Hardly a whisper of wind in our area. I’m actually awake in the middle of the night because the wind has been blowing harder tonight than it was when they shut off the power, at least in our area of Morrison.

Now, we struggle with the idea of losing power in the future, the cost of this implication and the poor businesses who suffer because of this. Our children will go without school and having unexpected breaks and those of us who work will just need to deal with the days the children are not in school, even without the presence of wind as we wait for power to come back.

The threat of fire, wind and dry climates will only presumably get worse. This can’t be the only answer. Utility companies should consider this a last option only and be penalized when choosing this option over updated infrastructure.

Tax payers should not foot the bill either. It would seem like there is pressure for the government to step in and pay for this. There should be a better solution than making the public pay for updated infrastructure.