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This is Work - Electricity

I would love to find an old magazine or newspaper article from before electricity was standard to see what writers said about it. Did they think it was good, bad, or did they even think it was a worthwhile topic? As I write this, I have many items using electricity in my presence, from the computer to the lights. I am totally dependent upon it. I am so thankful my home has electricity and so does my office. All of the modern conveniences I use rely on electricity.  

To get the lights on and to keep them on, there is a small army of people behind the scenes making it happen. The electric company in my area is private company. It may be owned by the government in your area. The number of workers directly employed by the company are huge. There are workers in the offices coordinating, billing, and dealing with customer issues. There are field workers – from engineers to people who keep the power grid maintained.  The power company also contracts with other companies and their workers to do specialty jobs needed, such as tree trimming, or line maintenance.


You may not think much about the amount of people employed by an electric company until something happens. In my area, there is the possibility of damaging storms. The storm could be a hurricane or even a snowstorm with high winds or ice. Any of those scenarios may result in power outages. Each hour that goes by without electricity seems like an eternity in the 21st century. All of our devices, appliances, and even our cars rely on electricity

For every complaint, people have about the electric company, and increasing costs, there is also a demand. Despite all the complaints, we have not given up the need for electricity. It keeps the world running and all the people who work in it, keep us charged up and ready to go. The employees are also consumers of the electric company themselves. Many companies are traded on the stock market also. Electricity can be generated, bought, and sold. This is a huge business keeping thousands of people in all kinds of jobs working. There will continue to be a demand for workers to keep the lights on and phones charged.

When I think of the power of the electric company, I think of the game Monopoly. The owner of the Electric Company gets to charge rent if someone lands on the space. If that person has houses or hotels on their property, the fee paid goes up. Monopoly may be a game. Electricity is real business, with real people, and real jobs. #thisiswork.

~Karen Cirincione

Email: kcirincione@gmail.com        

Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/karenjcirincione

Twitter: @kcirincione 

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