Letter to the Editor: Generosity, Kindness – and a Need for Evaluation

I might still be a little cranky after the last couple of days dealing with the recent power outage. However, during this episode, I learned two things I know to be true. The first is that the people of Door County are lovely examples of generosity and kindness. We checked on each other, we offered safe housing to those who needed it, we offered freezer space to people with a freezer full of food that might be in jeopardy, and some organizations even offered hot showers to people who wanted to stick it out in their homes without electricity. The outpouring of support was overwhelming.

The second thing I know to be true is that Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) needs to evaluate how they handle these matters. While I understand that the job of getting everyone’s power restored was a Herculean task, I think that they could have done a much better job of communicating with their customers to give updated and accurate information. I have spoken to a number of people who were told their power was back on (when it wasn’t); that they had lost power (when they hadn’t); and that received notices telling them when their power would be restored that were so far off that one wonders if there was an overtired customer service manager with a magic eight ball calling the shots and dispensing wildly inaccurate information to weary customers.  Given that WPS is the only game in town in our community, it would be nice if we could count on them to be good neighbors and get this part of their job right.

That’s my two cents. 

Suzanne Zakry

Fish Creek, Wisconsin