As a society, we will be analyzing the COVID-19 situation, and the effectiveness of our response, for many years into the future. From a personal standpoint, my response has been mixed. Like many people, I very much miss my routine — seeing friends and colleagues in person, attending my girls’ school events and sports competitions, going to restaurants and the movies with my husband, and taking vacations, among many other things. I’m so sad for those who have lost loved ones to the virus and am empathetic to those working on the front lines who are separated from their own loved ones and at increased exposure. I am concerned about the long-term impacts of the pandemic on our economy – especially the many small businesses I normally frequent – and questioning if there is a better way to both contain the virus and get back to work. America is nothing if not innovative and I am hopeful that innovation is starting to kick in.
The other side of the coin is the forced slowing down of my life. Despite long hours of telework all the other elements mentioned above have come to a grinding halt. That has proved to be more of a blessing than I would have thought. I’ve spent time with my kids, reading them The Little House in the Big Woods (talk about isolation!), I’ve taught them how to hand wash my car, and we’ve spent a ton of time as a family playing board games, walking the dogs, and getting creative about artwork (those Amazon delivery boxes are great palettes!). I’ve also reconnected with my friends and extended family via online happy hours and group texts – prioritizing these interactions now more than ever.
With my work colleagues, we’ve warmed to platforms previously underused to connect with each other. Seeing their faces on Microsoft Teams or FaceTime is a highlight of my day, even when I realize two minutes before such interactions that I haven’t brushed my hair or put on makeup. In short, the necessary disconnection from physical interaction has forced more connection from a distance. What this might mean from a spiritual perspective, I leave you to contemplate, but it seems to be a profound lesson.
What enables this ability to connect without being physically connected and to maintain at least certain elements of our economy via telework, much less almost every element of our modern society (internet service, water pumps, fuel pumps, lights, air conditioners, heaters, respirators, ventilators, blood pressure machines, and the list goes on and on)? Yes, electricity. That is why many in our industry have suspended disconnections of this most essential of services while we as a country tend to those most acutely affected by the virus. But not-for-profit public power utilities, or any utilities for that matter, are not banks. Their job is to provide this most essential of services 24/7/365. This service cannot be conjured out of thin air; rather, it requires continuous power supply and constant infrastructure maintenance and monitoring from highly trained people who manage the power plants, transmission lines and distribution lines that feed into all homes and business. Many of these people are risking their own health and safety to keep the lights on during this pandemic.
Yet some have said that utilities must “take a hit” because the rest of the economy is taking a hit. I am struggling with this thinking. The majority of public power utilities are in communities of 4,000 people or less. They are highly connected with their communities. And you can bet that they are already “taking a hit” — seeing loved ones or other people in their communities contract the virus or seeing beloved businesses shutter and unemployment skyrocket.
In addition, many public power utilities are seeing declining electric load as businesses and industrial customers scale back or shut down. They are also seeing an uptick in non-payments by customers and expect an even larger increase in non-payments moving forward. This double-edge challenge of increased costs and reduced revenues will have a financial impact on public power utilities that in turn will impact their ability to support other essential community services such as firefighting and policing. The full extent of this may not be seen for weeks or months. When the health and safety of public power communities and their workers are at the forefront, financial impacts are, understandably, sometimes overlooked. Both in the near-term and the longer term, however, these essential public power workers must be paid, the fuel that drives their power plants must be purchased, and the maintenance on their equipment when repairs are needed must be performed.
Given these short- and long-term challenges, public power utilities are working with their communities to find local solutions.
That is why that I urge us all – policymakers, critical service providers, and community members – to better understand what it entails to keep the lights so that we can all keep our connections, in whatever form they are currently taking.