By: Dr. Andreja Valič Zver
Does anyone else among you remember that long-ago third grade of primary school, when we learned about electricity, drew electrical wires and transformers, and believed in the eternal existence of such an important resource as electricity? Of course, our diligent teachers did not tell us then that in Slovenia, we had discovered this miraculous invention of the industrial age long before the communists took power.
Let’s take a trip into the historical archive and remember that the first electric light in Kranj – a city among the most economically advanced in the Carniola region within Austria-Hungary – lit up as early as 1893. From the steam-powered Majdič Mill, Kranj’s first industrial plant, electric light slowly penetrated the darkness of the town, which until then had been illuminated by gas and candles. It is worth noting that the Majdič Mill, a gem of Slovenian industrial heritage, unfortunately burned down in September 2022 and remains a sad ruin. It has also been subject to denationalisation proceedings for over 33 years (!) with an ownership status that shifted strangely over time. The descendants of Marica and Demeter Majdič are still striving to have the building returned to them, as it is part of their valuable family heritage, and a painful reminder of injustices inflicted after WWII. Incidentally, at the national level, there are still 117 unresolved denationalisation cases, including that of the Westin family, once industrialists whose heirs are now scattered across the globe. Denationalisation proceedings in their case have stalled since the early days of Slovenian independence. A disgrace to the state, with connections, however indirect, to today’s topic.
Let’s return to the subject of electricity in our everyday lives. Life without it now seems almost unimaginable. Yet, despite the rule of the “most successful” electrician, we may soon face scenarios like those in the former Yugoslavia in the 1980s. During the infamous government of Milka Planinc, citizens frantically stocked up on candles, batteries, kerosene lamps, generators, and other alternative sources of light and heat. The notorious “reductions” were a daily ritual after 5 p.m., and I vividly remember how, while working as a substitute teacher at a high school in Kranj, the lights went out in our basement classroom, leaving us in darkness and cold. At home, my family would be gathered in the kitchen by the wood stove and kerosene lamp. Truly unforgettable memories.
Later, while teaching at the then Kranj Secondary School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, I learned quite a bit about “electricity” – a force that has shaped our lives at every turn for over a century since the first light bulb in Kranj was lit. Many of my electrical engineering colleagues have trained generations of young electrical technicians and engineers who went on to build careers both at home and abroad. As I read their recent social media comments about the introduction of Golob’s infamous “network fee”, I find their insights and objections very credible. We, the citizens of this nearly hijacked state, have been and remain subjects of various experiments, whose names are mere labels for what is, at its core, continued plundering of taxpayers’ pockets. The slogan of a lean state has long been forgotten; instead, new burdens for citizens constantly arise in the so-called “freedom” era. And the “network fee” is nothing more than an additional source of revenue for a hungry hydra that feeds on money from helpless consumers.
One of my former colleagues, an electrical engineer and teacher, recently commented ironically on X platform: “When everyone needs power, that is when it will be RED, the most expensive. Start refrigerators, heaters, and motors when no one else is thinking about it – at night, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Throw electric water heaters in the trash. Only use the oven at night…” He concluded that this situation essentially amounts to the ruthless, greedy exploitation of citizens. And there is little to add to that!
The early Bolshevik communists elevated electricity and the electrification of the state to the level of a myth! They believed it would provide the foundation for the powerful industry of the Soviet state and the “new life” they aimed to create. Today, electricity no longer holds any utopian or mystical allure. Yet, some Slovenian electricity dealers, feasting at the trough, seem to share something in common with their ideological forebears from a century ago – a boundless thirst for power and money. Yes, that too is enabled by electricity in our everyday lives.
