Message from the NCTA President

A Message from NCTA President Emily Regis NOTES FROM THE LAND OF QUARANTINE

Along time ago in a faraway land fondly remembered as 2019, I had all kinds of plans for the year 2020, including traveling and attending meetings and conferences, vacationing, and spending time with friends and family. But the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic canceled those plans and brought new ways of living and working, including a lock-down quarantine. It feels like we’ve been living in a different country since that earlier, more peaceful pre-quarantine time. In this “new country,” you are limited in your travels and must remain in your home unless it is absolutely necessary to go out. Travel is permitted only to other nearby “continents of necessity” called the grocery store or pharmacy. You will see a lot of the people you live with, but not friends or co-workers. You will work remotely from your home office for an undetermined length of time.

I’ll admit at the beginning of this thing I felt enthusiasm for the opportunity to finally get a few things done around the house that have been neglected too long. I cooked and cleaned my way through March and April. I did yard work. I re-organized closets and drawers. In May I repainted my home office that particular shade of green I wished I had used when I first painted it many years ago. I got up early every morning and walked two miles before work. I read books and listened to music. I took time to contemplate life. What an excellent time to be productive! I remember reading somewhere that Shakespeare took full advantage of the quarantines during the many plagues he lived through in his lifetime and created some of his most famous works. This lockdown could be the perfect opportunity to finally write the great American novel!

But isolation gets old. That’s why it is used as a punishment! And after a while, enthusiasm for staying home and doing projects becomes a limited commodity. Three months and counting, and it is all starting to feel like waiting in the doctor’s office for an appointment that is long past due. I miss the old life and want to get back to what I was doing before. And I would like to feel optimistic about the future, except the news continues to be bad—with not only the spread of more coronavirus illness, but of social and political conflict of epic proportions. Every new headline seems to be more troubling. The feeling of impending doom prevails. One cannot escape the bad news due to rapid-fire communications from the internet, email, and television except during sleep—and even then maybe not very well. The strain of all this is starting to take its toll on people. And you would be able to see it on people’s faces if not for their mask coverings!

Many of us in the energy industry were told early on during the lockdown that we are essential employees due to the life-sustaining electricity our jobs provide. We have all been very fortunate to continue working through the pandemic when many others have not. Nevertheless, we were already dealing with a lot of uncertainty and social pressure before this crisis unfolded. Then more stress arrived on the heels of the pandemic in the news of plant and mine closures, employee furloughs, and layoffs—all due to the drastic downturn in the economy brought on by COVID-19. Yet the coal industry has again proved itself to be extremely resilient. We’ve kept the lights on and are providing essential fuel and fuel-related products needed to sustain life in these tumultuous times. Because that’s what we do in this business, and I would expect nothing less!

The only good thing to be said about really rotten times is that when they are over, they will make you appreciate the good times all the more. At the time I am writing this in late June, we’re still stuck in the coronavirus time-warp continuum. While we await the end of the pandemic, I look forward to that happy day when we can go back to work in our offices, greet friends and colleagues with a hug or a handshake, and sit down together and have a conversation. And that day can’t come too soon.