When I received an email from OG&E this past week urging me and everyone else to conserve electricity, I almost started laughing.
The email was funny for two reasons. First, given what everyone in the OKC metro area went through after storms last summer and then again with the fall ice storm, OG&E once again has unhappy customers and appears sometimes unprepared for an event of nature. I could just hear the rancor bubbling up on social media as I read each line. Sure, lots of factors led to rolling blackouts across the Southwest Power Pool, but customers immediately blamed the company they pay for electricity.
Second, what were people supposed to do? My thermostat was already set at about 68 during the winter, the recommended temperature from the email. But of course my heater was cranking all day and night because, you know, it’s -12 degrees outside. Besides that, I can think of many places in the metro that guzzle more power in one day than homes do in a whole year — places that were nearly empty all week owing to the massive snow storms.
There was a similarly confusing and possibly humorous message sent out from OKC Mayor David Holt midweek about water usage being high. I really couldn’t tell if it was a call to conserve water, keep dripping faucets, or just updating everyone on why there’s no water pressure in our showers. Personally, I had a weird situation where my dripping faucet actually froze my drain, so I ended up with a sink full of water. That’s a first.
I don’t really know what to feel about how this past week was handled by our state, our cities and our power companies. This was seemingly a once-in-a-blue-moon situation with a lot of moving parts, so what are the expectations going forward? With two crazy winter weather events happening within a few months of each other, perhaps it’s reasonable to want an update to our energy infrastructure. I’m sure we’ll all think on this subject for a little while, return our thermostats to 72, then it will be promptly forgotten.
Past Sundaze comics
You’re on your own: It’s too cold for Cupid this year
COVID vaccine: Never doubt what nobody is sure about
Oklahoma Legislature: A mask for thee, but not for me
Quite the quandary: Q followers feel let down
Pop quiz: What is jeopardizing the state of Oklahoma?
Imagine the day-to-day life of the Q Shaman
The year that was: 2020 blew up the bathroom
All we want for Christmas is more COVID-19 vaccine
The coronavirus turns into a pumpkin at 11 p.m.
Day of fasting a brief end for endless breadsticks?
Farewell Steven Adams, OKC’s second Mr. Thunder
Thanksgiving 2020 should be all about perspective
Mixed messaging on masks still makes no sense
Power problems lead to weird rituals after 2020 storm
Halloween 2020 more of a trick than a treat?
No ICU beds: The spooky movie of the season
Students surely making most of extra screen time
Epic fail? Audit yields more questions on public money
Rough Saturday for Sooners fans
Budget blockbusters from the Cox Convention Center?
College football fun dampened by COVID-19 risks
It wasn’t Neese: An allegory for owning your audio
You’re doing fine in the red zone, Oklahoma
Snail mail: Slugging it out at the U.S. Postal Service
Norman elections always cause a flood of headlines
School 2020: Arts and crafts more like arts and masks
Ready for basketball from the Disney bubble
Kevin Stitt quarantine: Rest up, governor
PPP helps keep the proverbial pizza cooking
Imagine masks: Stitt starts fashion fad to emphasize eyebrows
Mike Gundy has shirt problems
Coronavirus spike: There’s still a pandemic out there
