It's...the Blackout of '10!

I think it's time for our local governments to throw down the gauntlet.

The power is back on here after yet another hours-long outage, courtesy of the famous Duke Energy. This one knocked out power to about 1,000 properties - even though there was no rain or wind anywhere in sight.

I know it's premature to call this the Blackout of '10, because - given Duke's record - there will almost certainly be others this year that are just as bad or worse.

That is, unless our local government representatives make Duke shape up.

Actually, Dook has had plenty of chances to turn over a new leaf, and hasn't done so. We're at the point where our governments should condemn Duke's assets and run the local electric system themselves. An arrangement like this already exists in much of the nation, and provides much more reliable and inexpensive service than Duke has given us.