A Note From The Editors |

To the majority of users, electricity is an opaque service expected to reliably support the range of social, medical, and fiscal systems that power our lives. The delivery structure is largely centralized; the touch point with consumers rarely extends beyond a monthly bill…and kWh accrual for those that look.

As climate change fluctuates more into everyday consciousness, users are paying attention to what exactly powers those monthly charges, and their options to change the existing paradigm. Information emboldens the user to see beyond their bill and acknowledge electricity's bedfellows: resiliency, environmental justice, energy access, and equity.

Energy democracy is a movement towards making the infrastructure that powers our lives more accessible and participatory.

We’d like to thank Alicia Noriega for co-editing this month, and for guiding us through the grid.

Rebecca Altman's essay, American petro-topia, originally published in Aeon in 2015, jumps out at you line one. Her prose stays personal and poignant until its finish – so much so you barely realize the subtle, yet thorough education on petrochemicals, plastics, and American history she is giving you. It begins:

I knew it was late to be calling him. But that night, with the first warm breezes rustling the curtains, I could sense the coming spring and realised he would turn 73 soon.

Rebecca Altman is a writer and sociologist. Her work explores the social history of chemistry, plastics, pollution and environmental legacy— what we pass from one generation to the next. Below, frank animates an excerpt from her essay, "American petro-topia", narrated by Rebecca Altman herself.

Written and Narrated by:  Rebecca Altman
Designed and Animated by: Sophie Feller 

Original Score by: Jacques Brautbar