Among the other information that has overwhelmed our brains (most of it useless) has recently been added how many kilowatt hours of electricity we produce, how many can be stored, and how many we consume. Information that a few years ago would have been inconceivable as news and that citizens would need to know.
Of course, a few years ago it would have been unthinkable that we’d be concerned with what some Mavrikios is doing, what a Ramona is wearing, who Konstantina is involved with, where Emily went on holiday, and many other useless pieces of information that, willing or not, invade our minds.
Until recently, we didn’t even care about the weather forecast. We lived through the seasons and barely concerned ourselves with temperatures. In winter it’s cold, it rains, the wind blows, it hails, there’s lightning and thunder. In summer it’s hot, often above 40 degrees. We got by with this basic knowledge.
In recent years, however, weather phenomena have acquired names and their arrival is colour-coded accordingly. Yellow warning, orange, red… Plus the Beaufort scale, plus the humidity level in the atmosphere, plus the amount of dust. Plus how much rain fell or didn’t fall and how much water there is in the dams and whether we’ll manage to get through the summer.
To all this, electricity production has recently been added. We produce so many kilowatts per hour, but we need so many more. You hear this, you become anxious, you buy candles and oil lamps to have on hand.
And where once the electricity prices worried you, now it’s the adequacy of supply. Not only does it worry you, but you also feel guilty. “Turn off the light”, “Don’t use the washing machine today”, “What do you need the tumble dryer for, hang the clothes on the line”…
Governments have this habit of, instead of solving problems, shifting responsibility, directly or indirectly, to citizens. They grant permits for towers, villas and complexes left and right without first measuring: do we have enough water for all these future residents, do we have enough electricity for them to function, or will some of them end up stuck in a lift on the 15th floor one evening?
So in 2025, while we talk about artificial intelligence, we’re counting kilowatts per hours and making it news.
We issue a daily kilowatt per hour bulletin like the weather forecast.
Soon it will be added to the news bulletins along with temperatures and stock market prices (if that still exists). With the kind sponsorship of the EAC.
We don’t want to know the number of kilowatt hours. We just want to know that those who govern us can ensure there’s enough for everyone.