Electricity is a given for us, but let's not forget that some people still don't have access to electricity. This first person account from an american citizen who spent the 2006 winter in Tajikistan:

It has been about a week and a half since the power cuts started.  On average I get about an hour of electricity in the morning and one at night.  My office has no electricity ever, so my days are spent sitting in the cold darkness. [...]

At night pure darkness falls upon the city.  Here and there garbage is burned in random piles in apartment courtyards.  This combined with the ubiquitous shashlik stands (open air kebab barbeques) creates a thick smoke throughout the city center every evening.  There are potholes and open manholes everywhere, so getting around at night can be a challenge.

Link