LAS CRUCES - Under the circumstances, those famous five words, uttered by tough guy Clint Eastwood, come to mind right away.
Go ahead, make my day.
Behind that is the gist of what El Paso Electric Co. officials said Friday, regarding Sunday's Super Bowl. Barring the unexpected and unforeseen, chances now appear slim that rolling blackouts could affect your watching Sunday's National Football League championship game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers.
"Right now, we're pretty optimistic that by Sunday there may not be any blackouts in effect," said Teresa Souza, El Paso Electric spokeswoman. "There shouldn't be any problems unless something unforeseen happens."
The big game kicks off at 4:30 p.m. MST Sunday. The pre-game show begins at noon Sunday on Fox Sports, Comcast Cable channel 8 and DirecTV and DishNetwork channels 14, in Las Cruces.
Rolling power outages continued Friday in the aftermath of a massive, severe winter storm that has gripped much of the U.S. For more than 91 hours, from Monday night through Friday afternoon. Las Cruces experienced some of the coldest temperatures ever, and the weather wreaked havoc in generating electricity. The trickle-down effect also hampered abilities to provide enough natural gas for some homes and businesses.
The rolling blackouts typically lasted about an hour, but some lasted longer in some neighborhoods.
"Man, if the Super Bowl gets blacked out at my house because of this rolling blackout thing,
Irene Garner, a Las Cruces administrative assistant, who is going to cheer on the Packers, said any disconnect from the game would likely cause "an awful lot of grumbling" among sports fans.
"Whatever the problems are (with El Paso Electric), count me in the huge group of people who hope they can get this all fixed, pronto," Garner said. "Even if I don't end up watching all of the game, because there's other programs I'd like to see, too, I'm figuring I'll probably watch most of the game with family and friends. It should be a good one to see."
El Paso Electric has been unable to achieve full production of electrical power at its two plants, the Newman Power Plant in far east El Paso, and the Rio Grande Power Plant, in Sunland Park.
But Souza said it appears there should be enough electricity to watch Sunday's game even if the two power plants haven't returned to full generation by then.
So for now, have a Coke and a smile. If you remember that famous commercial, it aired for the first time during the Super Bowl.
Steve Ramirez can be reached at (575) 541-5452.
Watch it!
•What: Super Bowl XLV
•Who: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Green Bay Packers
•Where: Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas
•When: 4:30 p.m. Sunday
•Line: Packers favored by 2.5
•On TV: Fox, Comcast channel 8, DirecTV and DishNetwork channel 14




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