I woke up this morning at 6 am covered with sweat. I know what you are thinking, It is Texas during the summer, no big suprise there right? Well....seems that the power had gone off sometime after I had gone to bed. The transformer down the street (the same one that had blown out last month and was replaced) had exploded again. More over the jump.....
Here in north Texas we are under what is being called an Excessive Heat Warning. The temps are reaching 110 in the afternoon, and no relief at night. When I went to bed last night shortly before 12:00 AM the thermometer on my porch was reading 95F. Even with the A/C running full time and a good fan the temps inside are only 10 to 15 degrees cooler. But hey, I'm a Texan. I try to make the best out of a bad situation.
Well, this morning it got worse. We have already suffered through a day long power outage due to a blown transformer back in June. Spending the day outside even at only 98F is not something I would recommend. When the temps hit triple digits it can be deadly.
I went out this morning and saw several electric company trucks just up the block. Walked over there with my dog and talked to some of the guys. It should be noted that all of the guys I spoke to were very polite and actually seemed to care about the people affected. I did appriciate the honesty of one worker who told me that it should be a quick fix, but they are severly understaffed so it might take hours with just 3 people working on it. The power came back on around 10AM with temps already soaring into the 100's and I let out a sigh of relief and a thanks for the guys who tried their best to do their job with limited resources.
And here is where we get down to it.....Texas deregulated Electrical providers in the early 2000's under the guise that (what else) the free market will make everything better.
There are three sides to every story...Yours ,Mine, and the Facts...Lets talk about the facts.
Utility bills have skyrocketed here in Texas, example...Our summer electric bill back in 2001 was around $90, today it is over $300. We also never had power outages that were not caused by severe weather. Now it is a monthly occurance.
We need to replenish our nations infrastructure, not only the electric grid but also roads and bridges along with water pipes and all those things that the private sector sucks at.
Want to end on a good note...If nothing else these power outages have given me a chance to meet my neighbors while we are all outside and for my poodle to make some new friends with the neighborhood dogs. That is cool, the tea-bagging of Texas is not.