Note: the following diary was written two weeks ago in the dark, using my computer’s battery during the aftermath of Hurricane Helene hitting Greenville, SC. Since I had no power for ten days and no internet for two weeks, I haven’t been able to post this until recently.
College cafeteria food sucks. So when my mom called and asked if I would like to join her for a steak and lobster dinner at a fine restaurant, I was all in.
Since my parents never let me order either steak or lobster at a restaurant—“You always want the most expensive thing on the menu”— I quickly surmised these were extenuating circumstances.
The local power company in Columbia was paying for the meal. They were having a dinner to welcome all the newly elected members of the South Carolina legislature to Columbia.
My mom had recently run for office, South Carolina State House Seat 22. A Democratic liberal Jewish woman from New York wasn’t likely to win an election in the same district where Bob Jones University stood, but my mom ran anyway and got elected to the State Legislature.
That was fifty years ago. She probably won riding on the coattails of Jimmy Carter, and South Carolina hadn’t yet completely switched from Democratic to Republican.
The host of the power company only said a few brief words. Besides congratulating the representatives for winning their political contests, he just wanted to assure everyone there, that if they ever needed anything, or needed any information about privately owned electric utilities, they were there to help and answer any questions.
As a college student who majored in Political Science and Psychology, I cynically suspected the power company wasn’t exactly the paragon of virtue they portrayed themselves to be. They were investing thousands providing all these “free” dinners, and appreciated when legislation concerning electric utility companies was on the line, they would have the ear of the legislators. The meals they provided were a bargain with a healthy return of investment.
Later, while the State Legislature would be considering whether to grant the utility companies another rate hike, poor shlubs like you and me who would have to pay the increased power bill, would have no chance to explain to any legislator we might have to choose between being warm and feeding our cat.
That was fifty years ago. Today, I am running for House Seat 20. At 6:06 it is getting dark. There are no lights on in the house. I haven’t had power since I woke up Friday morning. I am one of millions without power. I may not get power again for several days. Not only are powerlines down everywhere, but a tree fell onto my roof severing all powerlines that went to my house.
For some reason I am not overly fond of Duke Energy. I put solar panels on my roof—twice. Twenty-one panels the first time, and five more after my neighbor cut down a huge tree that shaded the left side of my roof. I bought an all-electric car (Hyundai Ionic 5) and kept an old Toyota Corolla as a back-up vehicle. The extra solar panels meant I could drive my car with the power of the sun, as I had installed a home changing station.
Now I have neither power from the Duke Energy electric grid nor from the sun. I have a quarter of a tank of gas in the Corolla, and a range of twenty miles left on my Hyundai. Greeneville, SC got hit bad by the hurricane. I had been worried about my daughter who lived in southern Georgia. At one time they predicted the eye of the storm would slam right through their area. Fortunately for them, the storm swung to the east, and they never even lost power.
For those to the east, from Florida to North Carolina, it was a different story. As bad as it was in the Greenville area, where the small creek in our neighborhood looked more like a lake, Asheville and western North Carolina were devastated by flooding. I can’t even get in touch with my friends in Asheville to find out if they are all right.
The last time a hurricane made it all the way to Greenville, I showed up the next day for our weekly Tell-Them-Tuesday protest. I had made a special sign for the occasion. It was only four words, but I had done sufficient research to know I was stating a scientific fact: GLOBAL WARMING EXACERBATES HURRUCANES. I was the only one to show up that Tuesday, as everyone else expected inclement weather. Nevertheless, I stood alone holding my sign. One driver who passed by gave me the finger. I guess he didn’t like climate science.
Frankly, I am angry. I’m angry at all those idiots who have maintained for years that global warming is a myth and catastrophic climate change isn’t a near and present danger. This is a plague of our own making and Republicans don’t want to do a damn thing about it, if they even admit it’s real.
A few days before the hurricane hit, I sent a letter to the head of the Greenville County Recreation Department for their wanton waste of energy. An except follows:
This summer I have personally witnessed thousands of dollars being needlessly wasted air-conditioning the immense gymnasium to a frigid 64⁰ regardless of the outside temperature.
It’s so cold the automatic heaters have been simultaneously running to heat the building while the air-conditioning has been running to cool the building!
Running the air-conditioning and heating system at the same time is the epitome of inanity! It wastes energy; it wastes money; and it contributes heavily to global warming and catastrophic climate change.
I have complained to multiple people…repeatedly since last spring. Nothing, so far, has been done to remedy the problem.
Ding! A text message just came in from Duke Energy:
Our crews are working tirelessly to restore power to your area following the devastating damage caused by Helene. We expect to have power restored to the majority of our customers no later than Friday evening… We recognize how challenging this situation is and appreciate your patience as we work to safely restore your service. Thank you for your continued understanding.
Here is what I think Duke Energy should have said, had they been more honest:
Are you in the dark? Is all your food rotting in your freezer and refrigerator? Can’t cook a meal or do laundry? Can’t use the internet or even watch TV? Too bad! We could have prevented this years ago, but decided it just wasn’t worth it. After all, our short-term profits and stock price are more important than the lives and well-being of our customers. We’re a monopoly and can do whatever the hell we want. We got the state legislators in our pocket. Don’t like our service? Try living off the grid!
All we had to do was put our powerlines underground, like we do in wealthy neighborhoods; but that would cost us money. Sure, it would be good investment in the long run, as every few years there is one reason or another everyone loses power. Remember when there was a huge power outage after the last winter storm? Some people didn’t have heat for days in freezing temperatures. If we didn’t care then, why care now?
All we have to do is act like the bad weather was an act of God and out of our control. But guess what? Trees don’t fall on powerlines when those powerlines are safely submerged underground. But we’re not going to remind you this is our fault. So please be patient and understanding. What else can you do? You’re powerless!
