A few years ago, my community was hit hard by Hurricane Isabel. Some people were without power for more than a week. Horrible. Imagine being without water for a week. At least it was warm out so people weren’t freezing. We’re not always that lucky.

So that’s why whenever I read stories like this one about people losing their power in the recent ice storm, I totally empathize. But what caught my eye about this story was:

“Crews from Canada and as far away as Virginia and Michigan were assisting in restoring power lines.”

My background is in communications and marketing with a slant towards the Web. I just came on board at AGA a few months ago so I’m in total learn mode. I had heard about the “assisting in restoring power lines” concept before but had never really given it much thought.

As I asked about this news around the office, I was told, “this happens all the time.” Really? “Yes, this is a common practice in the utility world.”

While it may be common practice, I still think this is a big deal. . People pulling together in times of crisis to help others IS always a big deal and doesn’t happen often enough today, IMHO.

I’m working now to figure out which of our members are involved in this initiative, because we always want to promote our members J, but if you know of a utility in your area that has dispatched help, let us know in the comments below. Stories like these, and the one we have to tell about Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), are the ones we need people to know about. It’s important.