Keeping the Lights On: Welcome to Feeling Electric

Hello, and welcome to the first blog post of Feeling Electric! I have wanted to launch a blog about energy topics for years now, but I was faced with a similar dilemma that many potential bloggers have: Who in the world will want to read about this? Because of this concern, I procrastinated until my friend said something that changed my mind. We were sitting at lunch, and I was talking (or maybe ranting) about some convoluted issue in energy, and she threw up her hands and said, “I couldn’t even tell you how my lights turn on!” That statement made me realize something—making people care about energy topics is hard, but it’s hard because energy is often abstract and confusing. This day was when I realized that if I wanted to start a blog about energy and electricity, I could focus on making these topics simple and accessible to everyday people who don’t study energy. People that just want to keep their lights on.

Accessible science communication matters. An interviewer recently asked me about what I thought the biggest challenge in the energy sphere is currently. There are many valid answers, from climate change to economic transitions. However, I said that effective communication with the public is the biggest challenge in the energy industry today. Let’s be real, it’s much easier to convince people to protect a piece of land when advocates can show pictures of a cute, fluffy animal that needs help. But trying to convince people that some strange-looking, intimidatingly large hunk of technology will change society (I’m looking at you, wind turbines!) usually makes people cringe. The average person thinks: “Okay, great! As long as my lights turn on!”

So, here’s Feeling Electric's goal: To share topics, stories, and discussions about energy and electricity that apply to the average person. Whether the weekly blog is breaking down a utility bill’s components, talking about the pros and cons of buying solar panels, or discussing the odds that electric cars will hog the road in the not-so-distant future, I’m here to talk about how these energy topics apply to real people, their finances, and their future. Next week, the blog will start with my friend's concerns: How do your lights turn on, anyway? Thanks for sticking around.