Lubbock Braces For Blackouts Over Memorial Day Weekend

"When the lights go down in the city....." -Journey

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In a near genius-level stroke of solid timing, Lubbock Power & Light is celebrating Memorial Day Weekend by basically pulling the plug on the city.

via GIPHY

This is the weekend when a vast majority of the power grid in Lubbock will be switched over to that rock-solid symbol of bureaucratic competence ~~ENRON,~~ Errr, ERCOT. I say "majority", because there are still some areas that are connected to South Plains Electric Coop (namely, me) who won't have to deal with resetting the clock on the microwave at the most inopportune moment.

I'm not going to lie, I am buying a new house, and one of the selling points for me is that it is not in LP&L-Land, and therefore away from the long arm of ERCOT.

Over the Memorial Day Weekend, sections of the Lubbock Power & Light grid will be "unplugged" for up to 30 minutes at a time, so that it can be connected to the master ERCOT grid, which covers more than 80% of Texas power customers. Exactly when the power will be shut off is still a bit of a guessing game, as LP&L is giving customers a four-hour window of time in which their power will go off...like they are the cable guy, or something.

The question is, can't they find another weekend that isn't a HOLIDAY? When people really don't want to be inconvenienced needlessly and are able to enjoy a stress-free weekend experience, rather than at a time when we'll have lots of cold beverages chilling in our refrigerators and air conditioning running pretty much non-stop?

Then again, if you're on South Plains Power (like me), you don't have a care in the world...and your weekend will remain blissful and power-filled.

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LP&L has also said that because of potential traffic concerns due to power outages over the holiday weekend, there will be Lubbock Police doing traffic control at intersections where the power is off to help alleviate congestion or driver stupidity, since most people have no clue what to do at a 4-way-stop. (My words, not theirs.)

If you are concerned that a power outage could be making a sinister approach into your neck of the woods, there is an outage map provided by LP&L here.

Or, just use THIS handy graphic.

via GIPHY

TIPS: Here's how you can prepare for power outages

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