Xcel Energy is back with their annual “Please Don’t Blow Up the Block” public service announcement, reminding everyone that April is National Safe Digging Month. Apparently, before you go planting that one sad crepe myrtle that’s destined to die in the July heat, you’re legally obligated to call 8-1-1. Xcel is very concerned that your hand-trowel might be the final boss that takes down the entire Texas power grid.
The company is bragging about only having four “documented” incidents of underground damage across Texas and New Mexico in 2025. This is an adorable statistic when you consider that we’ve all seen more than four fiber optic crews accidentally turn a residential street into a water park before lunch on a Tuesday. According to Xcel, digging projects are the “greatest risk” to their infrastructure—which is a bold claim in a town where a stiff breeze or a stray trampoline can knock out the lights for three zip codes.
The utility giant wants you to call two days in advance so professional locators can come out and mark your yard with spray paint and tiny flags. They’re also very big on “hand-digging” to verify line depth, because nothing says “Saturday morning in Lubbock” like manual labor in 40-mph winds while you try to avoid a natural gas line that’s apparently shifted because our soil has the consistency of powdered sugar.
It’s truly heartwarming that Xcel is so worried about the guy installing a mailbox, but it feels a bit like being lectured on fire safety by someone who’s watching their neighbor play with a flamethrower. While we’re all dutifully waiting forty-eight hours to plant a petunia, the city’s various contractors and “professional” crews are out there playing a high-stakes game of Minesweeper with our internet and water lines every single day.
If Xcel is truly terrified of someone hitting a line, maybe they should stop sending condescending press releases to homeowners and start having a very loud, very uncomfortable conversation with the fiber optic contractors and city employees who are actually responsible for the majority of our utility-related heart attacks.
After all, why should we have to worry about hitting a gas line when the pros are already doing such a thorough job of it for us?
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