A long time ago in a theatre company far, far away – OK, in eastern Kansas – my friend Allen got called to be an emergency replacement in a murder mystery play.

By itself, that’s not too unusual. Life happens and the theatre world adjusts. But Allen’s situation was complicated by two factors.

1. Opening night was in one week. 
2. He was taking over the lead role.

I’m pretty sure the pounding in his chest could be heard as far away as San Diego. 

To his credit, he didn’t panic. He didn’t freeze. Instead, he spent every spare minute he had memorizing the second act. That’s because he had a plan for the first act – since his detective was interrogating all the suspects, he simply wrote the lines in a small notebook and glanced at them occasionally as he “took notes.”

That’s the sign of a pro. You adjust, you adapt, and you move on. Even when life changes with no warning at all.

I think we can all sympathize with that lately.

Ever since COVID-19 hit, a lot of us have had to adapt quickly, and LPC and NextLight have been no exception. Among other things:

• We’ve worked with some of our NextLight customers to do a successful installation in the garage – allowing us to provide service without risking their health or ours by coming in the home – or even to leave self-install kits at the door if a house is already NextLight-ready.
• We’re using smaller two-person electric teams in the field, so that we can continue to respond to outages and other urgent needs while also limiting opportunities for the virus’s spread.
• Like so many of our friends and neighbors, our customer service and technical support teams are taking calls at home. (Don’t be surprised if you occasionally hear a “meow” or a child in the background.)
• Our meter readers are checking in at staggered times so they can hit their routes and keep their distance at the same time. Because so many people are staying at home, our readers are also staying out of gated yards (about 4% of our meters) to help everyone keep their distance – we’ll estimate those readings based on previous energy use, and then true things up again when the restrictions have lifted.

With those steps, and many more besides, we’re keeping things going. Just as you’re counting on us to do.

After all, the show must go on.

And that’s no mystery.