Grid Reliability in Springfield

WEBVTT
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Hello and welcome to another episode of That's
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Shocking, a City Utilities podcast. I'm one of
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your hosts, Daniel. Hello, everyone. I am Cara.
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Excited to be here. It's the dog days of summer.
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Well, of course it is. So we are barking up a
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sweat. That's right. Honestly, this has been
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rough. It's just perpetually a state of sweat
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all the time. About blanket. Sweat -o -meter.
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We need to replace our nerd -o -meter with a
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sweat -o -meter or something. It'd be off the
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charts today and pretty much every day, it seems
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like, for the last couple of weeks. Until the
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end. Of the dog days of summer. Yeah. But there's
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a reason why I have my dog barking. And, you
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know, I'm talking about the dog days of summer
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because the dog days of summer create some issues
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for our electric system. Unfortunately, yeah.
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We are going to discuss maintaining reliability,
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especially. in the dog days of summer, whenever
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we're at the highest peak demand. We'll talk
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more about that here in a little bit because
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we're joined by the one and only Rob Geiler,
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Showtime Rob Geiler. He's got a nickname Showtime.
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He does. We have an employee in our communications
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department, Jamie, shout out, who loves to give
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everyone nicknames. And Showtime Rob got his
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nickname after a particularly strong storm caused
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a lot of outages. And he made the mistake of
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doing one news interview one time, and he did
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it well. And now he is forever known as Showtime
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Rob. Rob, you are sitting there looking at us.
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Extremely uncomfortably. Yes, I can feel the
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heat. It's feeling hotter in here. That's right.
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Because of that glare that you just gave us.
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I love the glare. So Showtime Rob Geiler, also
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known as our director of electric T &D. So welcome,
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Rob. Thank you. Thank you for being here, despite
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us. Yeah. already causing you there could be
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worse nicknames yeah for sure jamie was kind
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i think she's got other ones for me but she doesn't
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share those with everybody yeah i said i would
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take it as a nickname yeah um but i want to start
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off by talking about your title t d yes um i
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think we take for granted that most people know
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what t d is i don't know that everyone does so
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can you start off with that so it's it stands
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for transmission and distribution so transmission
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is the higher voltage lines that leave the power
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plant and travel out towards your neighborhood
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to our substations. And then from the substation
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out to your house, that's our distribution. That's
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the D. And you take care of it all. We take care
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of it all. Yes. Okay. Yes. So what does your
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team look like exactly, Rob? Like with that talking
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about T and D. Yeah. So T and D consists of five
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departments. We have line operations and line
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engineering. We have our T &D maintenance group,
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and then we have our substation operations and
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engineering group. Roughly 100 people, engineers,
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linemen, electricians, technicians. We have vegetation
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management groups. We have foresters, which we
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can talk about that today. It's part of the topic.
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So we have a very diverse group of people out
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there to make sure that we keep the lights on.
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Well, I think TND's middle name should be reliability
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because that's what you guys are really all about,
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making sure that when we flip the light switch,
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the lights come on. And when we're in the dog
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days of summer and we desperately need to rely
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on air conditioning, that we have it available.
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So before we even start, I just want to say thank
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you because this time of year, we are very appreciative.
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Oh, well, thank you for that. And it really goes
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to the team. the dog days of summer to keep the
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lights on when it's a hundred degrees. And so,
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yeah, it's all thanks to them. Yeah. Shout out
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to them for sure. We tend to forget that. So
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talking about maintaining the reliability though,
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because going off of what Kara had said that
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you could simultaneously, your name could be
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used with reliability. So let's cover a few of
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those topics because we've got a few listed here,
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but one is pole replacement. Yes. So we have
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a pole replacement program. We've become very,
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very proactive over the years, last several years,
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in replacing poles that are failing. So we go
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out and we inspect the pole. We do a bore test
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to determine whether or not that pole is— Whoa,
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whoa. A what test? A bore test. Okay, I was like,
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hold on, I got to find out more what this means
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exactly. So we basically, you put a needle through
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the pole and it tests the strength of the pole
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as you go through it. I heard that until very
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recently, you used to go out there literally
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with a hammer and tap on it. And if the hammer
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went through, you were like, okay, yep, needs
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to be replaced. So that's a sounding method.
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And that was the one that I came up with, grew
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up with. Came up through the industry. So we
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would have a mallet that we would hit the base
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of the pole with and listen for the sound, if
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it sounded hollow or vibrations, things like
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that. Interesting. They would tip you off that
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there was something going on. And you'd inspect.
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You'd take a screwdriver or something and poke
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through the bottom of the poles. And if you could
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poke into it, then the pole was rotten or defective.
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So we've come a long way. We have come a long
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way, yeah. In determining if the poles are sufficient.
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And if they are rotten, is it simply a risk of,
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not simply, obviously, it's much more serious
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than that, but they could literally fail, fall
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over? Right. We design our system to withstand
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a certain wind pressure. And once those poles
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deteriorate, they don't stand up to that. So
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if you have a significant windstorm as we...
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are prone to have here in Springfield, that's
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when they tend to fail. This may be a stupid
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question, but I'm really good at stupid questions.
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Wouldn't putting a metal pole in be more durable
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than a wooden pole? Sure. So we have that option.
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We do have metal poles in our system. We use
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those on transmission lines or other high -profile
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lines. Okay. But they are significantly more
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expensive. I see. Wood poles are generally, they
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last 50 -year cycle. We've got poles that are
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much older than that that are still up and still
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good. But we shoot for a 50 -year cycle, and
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we can talk about that, too, in our pole replacement
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program. Roughly, we have to replace about 1
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,300 poles a year to meet that. We're shy of
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that right now, but we're working towards it.
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And why is that? Is there a reason for that?
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There just haven't been as many poles damaged
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this year? No. You've got to kind of ramp up,
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and then so you're ramping up staffing and material,
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budget. So it takes time to ramp up. We've been
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at this pretty aggressive for the last several
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years, I would say five or six years. But prior
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to that, we didn't have a whole lot of pole replacement.
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proactive pole replacements so this was a relatively
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new effort so ideally the poles will be replaced
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around when they reach 50 years old right we
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would have we wouldn't have poles older than
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50 on the system ideally that's that's a target
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it's it's a generally good practice and Some
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will last longer than that, but we don't want
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to count on that because then we end up in the
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situation that we were in a few years ago where
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we hadn't been replacing poles proactively. And
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so then that's when you have more failures and
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you have more trouble during those windstorms.
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Do you happen to know how often pole failures
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are to blame for outages? So it would be. Prior
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to our tree, and we'll get to tree trimming soon,
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prior to our tree trimming program becoming also
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more proactive, pole failures would probably
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be in the next category. So most of our tree
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trimming or tree contact or trees falling is
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generally what causes our larger outages. Whole
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failure would probably be the next step down,
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especially during windstorms. So I don't have
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a number. Yeah, no, that's okay. So good time
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to transition then to the other major component
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that you all manage, which is our tree trimming
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program. I'm curious, like with this program
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and starting it, can you explain a little bit
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more about what that is? Because I've heard from
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several like, oh, I didn't realize this was something
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that City Utilities does. Yeah, so you're right.
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The trees can cause us problems for... variety
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of reasons and you touched on them one of them
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is the mascot of this uh show because trees make
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a bridge for squirrels to get on our lines and
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get on our equipment and As long as the squirrels
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stay on one wire, they're fine. But when they
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cross over between two wires, they usually have
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a problem at that point. Or they get on top of
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our equipment and short it out. I'm trying to
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avoid the nerd -o -meter as well. Well, I was
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going to say, what you're talking about is the
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potential demise of twigs and Watson, which we
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want to avoid at all costs. So we appreciate
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that. So that's one way. It allows wildlife to
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have a bridge to our equipment and to our system.
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The other way is just contact. just hits the
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the lines and and through that it it causes problems
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whether it's just may make make two lines touch
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one another which can short out a circuit and
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then wind blows them over you know when we have
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a lot of rain which we all like to have a lot
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of rain but that also weakens the the foundation
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for those trees so when the wind blows through
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We end up having, after a lot of rain, we have
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those come over. And not only do they then pull
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down one line and one pole, they pull down a
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string of lines and poles potentially. And a
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lot of times it happens in backyards, which is
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hard for us to get to and access. So what we
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do is we want to cut back. We're obviously not
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going to prevent trees from falling over and
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into our lines. We can't trim that out of our
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system. get the first two um out we want to not
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make a bridge for wildlife and we want to make
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sure there's not contact so that's what we're
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trimming for so you try to maintain a certain
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perimeter around lines don't you and what is
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that so we we want to get 10 feet And we can
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get 10 feet. And this is a little bit of a science
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and an art, but 10 feet is what we require as
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a minimum. Is that basically the distance that
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a squirrel could jump from tree limb to power
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line then? We haven't measured that, but I think
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it's close. I think it's close. It's more about
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the growth cycle. So we want to get to a seven
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-year cycle. We've done a lot of tree trimming
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over the last several years to get to where we
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can, okay, we've dealt with a lot of areas that
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had been. ignored for a while and got to a point
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now where we can start a cycle and go clockwise
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around town we're starting on the northeast side
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of town um it was it's got areas that are now
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a little further out from being trimmed previously
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so it was very strategic and we will go year
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by year and we will trim again i don't know if
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the nerdometer is going to go off with this i
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think you've explained feeder before on the show
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I don't know. I feel as though you should. Okay.
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So a feeder is something that we use. My hand
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is ready. So a feeder is basically the electric
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circuit that leaves the substation and goes to
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your home or your neighborhood. And it serves
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thousands of people. And so we try to, of course,
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keep that clear. nerdometer has made me nervous
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and I forgot where I was going with that. You're
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choosing your words very carefully. Yeah. That's
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awesome. You were talking about sort of why you
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started in the Northeast. Yes. And so we go feeder
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by feeder. Yeah, we go feeder by feeder. And
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that way we can keep track of those really easily.
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That circuit, we have numbers. for all of those.
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So it's just a good unit for us to keep track
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of and track over time. And so the hope is we're,
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you know, 2026, we start in that section and
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all those feeders in that section. And, uh, if
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I do my math right, was it 2032? That would be
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33. And we will have finished the cycle, uh,
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around town and we'll start it right back over
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again. Since we're on the subject of reliability,
00:13:02.470 --> 00:13:04.690
there's a way to make your monthly utility bills
00:13:04.690 --> 00:13:07.789
more predictable. And that's with LevelPay. It
00:13:07.789 --> 00:13:10.250
allows you to manage your monthly expenses so
00:13:10.250 --> 00:13:12.690
you pay the same amount each month instead of
00:13:12.690 --> 00:13:14.610
second -guessing when extreme weather could lead
00:13:14.610 --> 00:13:17.990
to fluctuations in your bill. Enroll at cityutilities
00:13:17.990 --> 00:13:21.269
.net slash LevelPay. Now, let's get back to the
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podcast. likely remember the ice storm of 2007
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yes can you talk about how that has helped inform
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and form our tree trimming program yes so it
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it definitely it was definitely an eye -opener
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for us in 07 when we had as much damage as we
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had again a lot of the times the trees were horizontal
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They're not meant to be. And when they go horizontal,
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there's not much we can do about that. But then
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there was a lot of breakouts and things like
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that. The tree trimming and an aggressive tree
00:13:57.350 --> 00:14:04.490
trimming program would have helped. So the thing
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after 07 and then in 08, a lot of people forget
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about 08 because we had more ice in 08 than we
00:14:10.269 --> 00:14:16.330
had in 07. But the trees were gone. you kind
00:14:16.330 --> 00:14:18.610
of do the math and tree growth in seven years,
00:14:18.730 --> 00:14:22.889
you're getting into about 2015, 2016, right?
00:14:23.429 --> 00:14:25.590
We're going to be on a seven -year cycle, kind
00:14:25.590 --> 00:14:28.529
of add seven or eight years to that. And now
00:14:28.529 --> 00:14:33.250
the canopy's back, right? And so not long after
00:14:33.250 --> 00:14:35.889
that is when we said, you know what? We can't
00:14:35.889 --> 00:14:38.610
let what happened in 07 happen again. We're going
00:14:38.610 --> 00:14:41.809
to have to start ramping up our budget and our
00:14:41.809 --> 00:14:45.440
efforts in this. in this and we have dramatically
00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:48.720
increased that effort over the last uh decade
00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:51.379
almost four million dollars do you spend each
00:14:51.379 --> 00:14:53.740
year on tree trimming and again that's a hundred
00:14:53.740 --> 00:14:56.500
percent to maintain reliability which um we take
00:14:56.500 --> 00:14:59.600
very seriously and our customers do too um but
00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:01.460
you're also you know very proud of your tree
00:15:01.460 --> 00:15:03.960
trimming program not just from the real reliability
00:15:03.960 --> 00:15:07.159
standpoint but you do tree trimming in a very
00:15:07.159 --> 00:15:11.059
responsible way 31 years running at with a tree
00:15:11.059 --> 00:15:13.879
line designation You said that's top five in
00:15:13.879 --> 00:15:16.200
the nation. And again, that's not just looking
00:15:16.200 --> 00:15:19.120
at we've trimmed the most amount of trees in
00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:22.879
that time period. That's talking about maintaining
00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:26.200
the canopy and doing it responsibly. Yeah, Tree
00:15:26.200 --> 00:15:29.259
Line USA is not about who can trim the most trees.
00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:31.759
It's about who does it most responsibly. And
00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:37.139
so not only are we more... proactive with our
00:15:37.139 --> 00:15:40.080
tree trimming to avoid outages for our customers.
00:15:40.200 --> 00:15:45.019
We also take care of the canopy. Our team, I'll
00:15:45.019 --> 00:15:48.419
give a shout out to Blake and his team of foresters,
00:15:48.419 --> 00:15:51.139
and we have a lot of contractor help as well.
00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:55.620
take care of the canopy, do what's right for
00:15:55.620 --> 00:15:57.919
the trees, but also what's right for our customers,
00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:00.860
and that is to get the trees back away from our
00:16:00.860 --> 00:16:03.840
lines so that we don't have the squirrels making
00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:08.159
the 10 -foot leap and the trees contacting that
00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:11.740
and causing outages, as you mentioned, in the
00:16:11.740 --> 00:16:14.019
most... inopportune times whether that's the
00:16:14.019 --> 00:16:16.879
that's the dog days of summer or whether that's
00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:19.720
the ice storm because you want your heat as well
00:16:19.720 --> 00:16:22.179
you still have the gas for your heat a lot of
00:16:22.179 --> 00:16:24.039
folks but you have to have the blowers to get
00:16:24.039 --> 00:16:26.019
that heat around your house so both the summer
00:16:26.019 --> 00:16:28.519
and and the winter we definitely want to make
00:16:28.519 --> 00:16:31.600
sure your your electricity is working you mentioned
00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:34.600
like the stages in terms of where you're going
00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:39.769
to tree trim say i've got a tree in my yard or
00:16:39.769 --> 00:16:43.009
i notice a tree in my neighbor's yard and it's
00:16:43.009 --> 00:16:44.889
not looking too good like it's getting a little
00:16:44.889 --> 00:16:47.809
closer looking kind of risky in terms of its
00:16:47.809 --> 00:16:51.950
alignment with the with a line or pole what do
00:16:51.950 --> 00:16:53.909
I do? Who do I call? Yeah. I mean, do I need
00:16:53.909 --> 00:16:57.029
to wait seven years? Well, no, no. So if you
00:16:57.029 --> 00:16:58.990
have a situation like that, we do get those calls
00:16:58.990 --> 00:17:00.529
from time to time. They usually come through
00:17:00.529 --> 00:17:02.429
customer service. So you can call our customer
00:17:02.429 --> 00:17:04.910
service and they will direct to you or they will
00:17:04.910 --> 00:17:07.849
give us your name and number and we can reach
00:17:07.849 --> 00:17:10.410
back out to you. We don't take all trees out.
00:17:10.450 --> 00:17:12.630
As I mentioned, we don't, if they're across the
00:17:12.630 --> 00:17:16.599
road, we're not. We're not going to take those
00:17:16.599 --> 00:17:19.240
out, even if the potential is that they could
00:17:19.240 --> 00:17:23.220
fall on the line. But if they are in the line
00:17:23.220 --> 00:17:25.720
or right up, you know, adjacent to the line,
00:17:25.779 --> 00:17:27.579
yeah, Blake and his team will come out, take
00:17:27.579 --> 00:17:29.380
a look and determine whether or not we should
00:17:29.380 --> 00:17:32.599
address that. And yeah, a lot of times we do.
00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:37.220
So I want to transition now to away from tree
00:17:37.220 --> 00:17:41.779
trimming and back to utility poles again, because
00:17:41.779 --> 00:17:45.660
we've... failed to mention something super important,
00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:50.140
which is that City Utilities was recently awarded
00:17:50.140 --> 00:17:53.799
a grant to help with this effort. Can you talk
00:17:53.799 --> 00:17:56.380
a little bit about that? Yeah, so we got the
00:17:56.380 --> 00:18:00.519
GRIF grant, and what that will result in is...
00:18:00.730 --> 00:18:05.349
being able to add roughly 150 or 60 poles a year
00:18:05.349 --> 00:18:08.630
to a little over 500 total. I think we have the
00:18:08.630 --> 00:18:13.109
actual numbers in front of us. Yeah, so in addition
00:18:13.109 --> 00:18:17.789
to that, we will also be looking at older transformers
00:18:17.789 --> 00:18:20.910
as well. So if there's an older transformer on
00:18:20.910 --> 00:18:23.930
that. we will change that out as well, which
00:18:23.930 --> 00:18:27.329
also improves reliability. So we're going to
00:18:27.329 --> 00:18:30.349
improve some aging infrastructure. We've got
00:18:30.349 --> 00:18:35.490
it scheduled for an older section of our system
00:18:35.490 --> 00:18:40.369
in the northwest corner of town is the main focus
00:18:40.369 --> 00:18:44.829
for that grant, but it will improve our ability
00:18:44.829 --> 00:18:48.369
to get to that 50 -year cycle that I talked about.
00:18:49.130 --> 00:18:51.990
helps us down the road towards that as well.
00:18:52.369 --> 00:18:55.910
So as we continue talking about polls and lines,
00:18:56.190 --> 00:19:00.569
we ask one question of almost all of our guests.
00:19:00.690 --> 00:19:03.309
We definitely asked it of Jeff with SpringNet
00:19:03.309 --> 00:19:06.869
and Matt with Transit. And I think you would
00:19:06.869 --> 00:19:10.230
be appropriate to ask this as well, because would
00:19:10.230 --> 00:19:13.349
you agree that there is one most commonly asked
00:19:13.349 --> 00:19:15.869
question that you get as director of T &D? We
00:19:15.869 --> 00:19:19.460
do. The question, why don't you just bury everything?
00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:23.619
Because, you know, wouldn't that help, you know,
00:19:23.619 --> 00:19:26.339
not being in the wind, not being in the trees,
00:19:26.420 --> 00:19:30.680
not, you know, subject maybe to squirrels. Or
00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:37.160
squirrels, maybe to home too. So it is a complex
00:19:37.160 --> 00:19:40.339
answer, but the first part of that is that it
00:19:40.339 --> 00:19:44.750
is, I mean. significantly more expensive to put
00:19:44.750 --> 00:19:46.890
all of our lines underground. That financial
00:19:46.890 --> 00:19:51.319
burden on our community would be... would be
00:19:51.319 --> 00:19:54.559
very difficult to take on. Astronomical. Astronomical,
00:19:54.599 --> 00:19:57.539
yeah. I'm trying to not use too many hyperbolic
00:19:57.539 --> 00:20:01.099
words, but it would be in the billions. Yeah,
00:20:01.099 --> 00:20:03.900
and I think in this instance, it isn't hyperbolic
00:20:03.900 --> 00:20:06.660
to use that word because when I first heard the
00:20:06.660 --> 00:20:09.099
estimate of how much it would cost to bury all
00:20:09.099 --> 00:20:11.859
of our lines, it truly is astronomical. No, I
00:20:11.859 --> 00:20:14.740
agree. Yeah, for sure. It is in the billions.
00:20:14.759 --> 00:20:16.980
We throw out numbers because we just don't know.
00:20:17.160 --> 00:20:19.099
I mean, by the time you get started and finish,
00:20:19.950 --> 00:20:22.849
you know, costs go up, things, I mean, but it's
00:20:22.849 --> 00:20:26.029
in the multiple billions of dollars to do it.
00:20:26.069 --> 00:20:27.869
One thing that's interesting, I've seen this
00:20:27.869 --> 00:20:30.029
with going out and seeing crews firsthand with
00:20:30.029 --> 00:20:31.789
this and talking, I'm asking them questions,
00:20:31.990 --> 00:20:35.930
but it's that cost that's going to also add up
00:20:35.930 --> 00:20:38.910
once something happens and it's the cost of...
00:20:39.109 --> 00:20:41.650
of digging that up and then repairing that. And
00:20:41.650 --> 00:20:45.230
so that adds up and really compounds the issue
00:20:45.230 --> 00:20:47.309
even more on top of that. Yeah. Didn't you say
00:20:47.309 --> 00:20:50.730
once that while outages may go down, that the
00:20:50.730 --> 00:20:54.089
length of time it takes to repair them and the
00:20:54.089 --> 00:20:56.309
cost to repair them would go up? Would go up.
00:20:56.349 --> 00:20:58.009
Yeah. You'd have fewer outages, but they would
00:20:58.009 --> 00:21:01.569
be harder to find because everything is hidden,
00:21:01.670 --> 00:21:03.940
right? Everything's underground. Where we have
00:21:03.940 --> 00:21:05.839
it today, we can see where the problem is. We
00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:11.920
can see tracking or we can see limbs in the line.
00:21:12.039 --> 00:21:15.960
We can find it because we can see it. When it's
00:21:15.960 --> 00:21:18.079
underground, you don't know necessarily where
00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:23.240
the failure is. Wire can fail underground. We're
00:21:23.240 --> 00:21:26.619
in conduit. It gets wet. And over time, it breaks
00:21:26.619 --> 00:21:28.880
down the insulation. We can have cable failures.
00:21:29.710 --> 00:21:33.369
and not be able to find them easily. And so that
00:21:33.369 --> 00:21:35.549
takes time. Then we've got to dig stuff up. The
00:21:35.549 --> 00:21:37.890
underground wire is more expensive. Everything
00:21:37.890 --> 00:21:40.529
is more expensive. And it would take us not only
00:21:40.529 --> 00:21:42.529
to find it longer, but it could take us longer
00:21:42.529 --> 00:21:46.640
once we find it to repair it. In addition to
00:21:46.640 --> 00:21:50.099
just the cost of doing it. And we're still going
00:21:50.099 --> 00:21:53.000
to have outages. We've got people digging. We've
00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:56.279
got backhoes. You've got animals that do get
00:21:56.279 --> 00:22:00.819
into the underground system as well. So we might
00:22:00.819 --> 00:22:02.759
not have trees. We might not have wind. But we
00:22:02.759 --> 00:22:07.680
still have... opportunities for outages, even
00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:10.720
with it being underground. And that said, we
00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:14.940
do utilize opportunities to bury power lines
00:22:14.940 --> 00:22:18.640
when fiscally appropriate. Right. So we try to
00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:22.380
work with, whether it's our municipal partners
00:22:22.380 --> 00:22:25.180
like the City of Springfield, the Public Works
00:22:25.180 --> 00:22:31.099
Department, or MoDOT, or Greene County, and on
00:22:31.099 --> 00:22:35.190
their municipal projects, we try to find ways
00:22:35.190 --> 00:22:37.710
to partner with. And we also partner with developers.
00:22:37.910 --> 00:22:42.349
When you build a subdivision, the developer is
00:22:42.349 --> 00:22:47.299
contributing to that. cost by helping us by putting
00:22:47.299 --> 00:22:50.779
in in underground infrastructure for us and so
00:22:50.779 --> 00:22:53.400
that shared cost makes it much more economical
00:22:53.400 --> 00:22:55.839
plus the electrician does it one time they do
00:22:55.839 --> 00:22:57.599
the underground service when they build the house
00:22:57.599 --> 00:22:59.920
they don't have to convert so the customer is
00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:03.240
just paying for it that one time as well so yeah
00:23:03.240 --> 00:23:06.859
we do try to find opportunities to to go underground
00:23:06.859 --> 00:23:10.960
but system -wide undergrounding to for a reliability
00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:13.660
effort our community's money is much better spent
00:23:13.660 --> 00:23:16.309
on tree trimming Pole replacement, replacing
00:23:16.309 --> 00:23:21.410
old equipment definitely would... Bang for the
00:23:21.410 --> 00:23:23.869
buck is much, much better. That's great. We've
00:23:23.869 --> 00:23:26.730
gotten enough nerdy information from Rob to transition
00:23:26.730 --> 00:23:30.170
to... Game time. Yeah, game time. And it's a
00:23:30.170 --> 00:23:38.309
comeback. For the first time, we are bringing
00:23:38.309 --> 00:23:41.369
back a game that we had on the very first...
00:23:41.819 --> 00:23:43.819
Actually, first two episodes of the podcast,
00:23:44.059 --> 00:23:46.980
it's Do or Chew. It's Return of the Do or Chew.
00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:52.259
Rob, do you remember that? Let's just say. Nervously
00:23:52.259 --> 00:23:56.220
laughing because I will say. Kara, I kind of
00:23:56.220 --> 00:23:59.240
got a bone to pick with Rob or maybe a twig to
00:23:59.240 --> 00:24:02.220
pick rather because it seems like Rob's been
00:24:02.220 --> 00:24:04.920
hating on our squirrels. With that being the
00:24:04.920 --> 00:24:07.579
case, we basically are going to put you in the
00:24:07.579 --> 00:24:12.059
paws of a squirrel in that case. So we have scenarios
00:24:12.059 --> 00:24:15.460
where we will ask you. One thing, if you would
00:24:15.460 --> 00:24:18.980
rather do that or chew through an electrical
00:24:18.980 --> 00:24:22.119
line. Oh, boy. We just want you to provide some
00:24:22.119 --> 00:24:24.099
empathy for the squirrel. Yeah, I will tell you,
00:24:24.099 --> 00:24:27.400
until recently, I had a big blow -up squirrel
00:24:27.400 --> 00:24:30.680
in my office. So I don't have... I mean, they
00:24:30.680 --> 00:24:33.420
keep you in business. Yeah, they keep us busy
00:24:33.420 --> 00:24:37.019
for sure. Yeah, that's right. You are basically
00:24:37.019 --> 00:24:38.900
going to need to bring that back right now and
00:24:38.900 --> 00:24:41.809
channel that squirrel because... Let's begin
00:24:41.809 --> 00:24:45.069
the next round of Do or Chew. Question number
00:24:45.069 --> 00:24:48.670
one. Would you rather be the main star of the
00:24:48.670 --> 00:24:52.829
Greatest Showman remake? Showtime Rob. Showtime
00:24:52.829 --> 00:24:55.829
Rob and the Greatest Showtime. Or, that would
00:24:55.829 --> 00:24:58.130
be the name of the remake, or chew through a
00:24:58.130 --> 00:25:01.529
power line. I'm assuming the power line is energized.
00:25:02.210 --> 00:25:06.160
Absolutely. It will, in Eric Smith's words. Eviscerate
00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:10.819
you. Yeah. Okay, so we're talking about primary
00:25:10.819 --> 00:25:14.779
or higher voltage. So stage fright or evisceration?
00:25:14.900 --> 00:25:18.700
Yeah. I would say stage fright. I would go with
00:25:18.700 --> 00:25:21.240
that. I would not like it, but I would go with
00:25:21.240 --> 00:25:24.079
it because I realize what's going to happen when
00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:26.720
I chew through the power line. Yeah, then you'll
00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:31.200
be eviscerated. All right, here we go. It's Shark
00:25:31.200 --> 00:25:34.119
Week. Yeah. In honor of Shark Week, would you
00:25:34.119 --> 00:25:36.519
rather be dropped into a tank of great whites
00:25:36.519 --> 00:25:38.880
while nursing a fresh cut so you're bleeding
00:25:38.880 --> 00:25:41.500
from your arm and you're dropped into a tank
00:25:41.500 --> 00:25:44.799
of sharks or chew through a wire? Am I in a cage?
00:25:45.279 --> 00:25:47.619
No, you're just in the middle of the ocean. I
00:25:47.619 --> 00:25:50.440
don't know why, but you're just there. You're
00:25:50.440 --> 00:25:52.779
dropped into the ocean. I was thinking that.
00:25:54.049 --> 00:25:55.930
Chew through the wire thing is going to be pretty
00:25:55.930 --> 00:25:58.470
quick, where if I'm getting chewed up by sharks,
00:25:58.549 --> 00:26:00.210
that might be a little slower. But there's a
00:26:00.210 --> 00:26:02.430
chance. You have a chance. A chance with the
00:26:02.430 --> 00:26:04.470
sharks? Sure. You're saying there's a chance.
00:26:05.130 --> 00:26:07.549
Yeah, I guess. I guess there's a chance that
00:26:07.549 --> 00:26:10.430
I will not get eviscerated. That's right. So
00:26:10.430 --> 00:26:12.990
it's a possibility, too. There may be a helicopter
00:26:12.990 --> 00:26:16.029
flying over you. You don't know. Yeah. Yeah.
00:26:16.250 --> 00:26:19.609
All right. So the final one is, we just experienced
00:26:19.609 --> 00:26:22.009
the hottest day of the year for Springfield.
00:26:22.440 --> 00:26:26.480
here and that said would you rather walk constantly
00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:29.799
without stopping but you know you've got shade
00:26:29.799 --> 00:26:33.200
and shoes and all that stuff from the southernmost
00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:35.779
point of the state to the northernmost point
00:26:35.779 --> 00:26:38.240
of the state with no water on the hottest day
00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:42.450
of the year or to through a live wire. Well,
00:26:42.529 --> 00:26:46.029
I think I'm going to walk only because I think
00:26:46.029 --> 00:26:48.769
I got a chance. I mean, no water, that's going
00:26:48.769 --> 00:26:50.150
to be tough. I'm going to have to try to find
00:26:50.150 --> 00:26:53.329
water along the way, I guess. But City Utilities
00:26:53.329 --> 00:26:56.509
has an ample supply of fresh, clean water for
00:26:56.509 --> 00:27:00.009
you to... They do, and if I can... takes them
00:27:00.009 --> 00:27:02.529
with me, then I'm definitely picking door number
00:27:02.529 --> 00:27:07.269
one. Very good. So again, moral of the story
00:27:07.269 --> 00:27:11.930
is always do, never chew, and live to tell the
00:27:11.930 --> 00:27:14.009
tale. So Rob, thank you for joining us today.
00:27:14.109 --> 00:27:16.009
Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for
00:27:16.009 --> 00:27:19.109
having me. It was fun sparring with you and teasing
00:27:19.109 --> 00:27:22.690
you about your nickname, which again, it's only
00:27:22.690 --> 00:27:25.799
because I'm jealous. Well, I mean, how can you
00:27:25.799 --> 00:27:28.380
not be jealous of a name with Showtime? Thanks
00:27:28.380 --> 00:27:31.460
to your early stage nerdometer at the beginning
00:27:31.460 --> 00:27:34.039
of this episode, electric is now at two, transit
00:27:34.039 --> 00:27:37.759
remains at zero, spring net at one, water is
00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:40.240
at two, and natural gas still is at three. They're
00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:43.940
leading it. Yeah, you're doing well, or not well,
00:27:44.019 --> 00:27:46.099
depending on whether you want to be leading this
00:27:46.099 --> 00:27:49.720
race or... Is there a prize? We haven't decided
00:27:49.720 --> 00:27:51.700
yet. We'll decide. We'll see who wins first,
00:27:51.779 --> 00:27:53.140
and then we'll decide what the prize is. You
00:27:53.140 --> 00:27:55.140
may be visited by a giant blow -up squirrel.
00:27:55.359 --> 00:27:59.099
Yeah, who knows? So, thank you all for being
00:27:59.099 --> 00:28:01.680
here with us. As always, if you have questions
00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:04.240
that you would like to submit, send those to
00:28:04.240 --> 00:28:07.339
social at cityutilities .net. And speaking of
00:28:07.339 --> 00:28:10.359
socials, follow us on Facebook X, Instagram,
00:28:10.500 --> 00:28:13.240
and TikTok. TikTok, you can find us at both at
00:28:13.240 --> 00:28:17.099
City Utilities and our That's Shocking Pod page.
00:28:17.460 --> 00:28:19.680
Definitely give us a follow yes because there
00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:22.160
you'll be able to see our alter egos twigs and
00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:24.519
watson that's right in the form of squirrels
00:28:24.519 --> 00:28:28.839
speaking of new episodes that are coming out
00:28:28.839 --> 00:28:31.779
you can expect new ones to drop every first and
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third wednesday of the month and the next episode
00:28:34.660 --> 00:28:39.460
we're talking all about rates so again join us
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i just got to say if rates has its own category
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on this nerdometer we might have a new winner
00:28:43.519 --> 00:28:45.799
by the end of that episode but i'm curious about
00:28:45.799 --> 00:28:47.920
that yeah we may i wasn't gonna say anything
00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:49.920
but i was thinking the same thing i was like
00:28:49.920 --> 00:28:53.099
oh boy is it austin um actually we have amy oh
00:28:53.099 --> 00:28:56.240
oh okay yes there's gonna be a lot of numbers
00:28:56.240 --> 00:28:59.240
there will be a lot of numbers it will be the
00:28:59.240 --> 00:29:01.400
next year we're going to have to develop something
00:29:01.400 --> 00:29:04.019
for that so you'll have to tune in and listen
00:29:04.019 --> 00:29:06.380
we've got to go off the grid for now but thanks
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for plugging in and allowing us to brighten up
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your day stay energized springfield