@IrelandTorin yes! This is how we roll too. I was baffled: the electric company sent out a message to people still without power that they could get one free bag of ice and two free gallons of water. Like that’s some kind of relief. 😳

We didn’t lose power for more than a minute, thank goodness, and we are somewhat prepared for extended power outages (after having gone through a 5 day one last year.)

@MotherDucker Admittedly I don't know exactly what the situation is like down there... but to me, a free bag of ice and a couple gallons of water, while not *massively* impactful, do sound like a helpful gesture.

The ice could be used to help preserve items in deep freezers a little longer, and 2 gal of clean drinking water can be enough to keep a person going for a few days if they're smart about it / taking steps to minimize water loss.

Sure beats a kick in the pants with a frozen boot!

@IrelandTorin I think I am just surprised the water isn’t 1 gallon per household resident. It’s just 2 gallons “per customer.”

And… our energy provider is embroiled in scandals… so I am extra judgy.
https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2024/02/12/ex-first-energy-executives-ohio-utility-regulator-charged-by-state-in-bailout-and-bribery-scandal/

@MotherDucker While I don't really have anything of substance to add about your utility company's shady actions (other than... wow, that really is shady),

I suspect I might know why they went with "per customer" rather than "per household member". It's kinda dumb, but very businessperson/accountant-ish.

They probably don't have good data on how many people are in each household, and wanted to be able to get a firm number for the maximum cost to provide the quoted quantity of water and ice.

@MotherDucker Either that, or they straight-up went out and sourced/bought enough to give every customer two gallons of water and one bag of ice, and if they have some left over plan to distribute it among those who still want more.

That's the most optimistic possibility.