In an "urban" area, I can't see keeping electricity a secret.

You could use refrigeration for bartering and for helping out people who need medicines to be refrigerated. If things got real bad, at some point don't we in the city run out of food and medicines to refrigerate?

In the summer, think I'd invite even my carless neighbors in for air conditioning (which they'd hear running anyway).

Those would be my two priorities for electricity: refrigeration and air conditioning. Presumably there wouldn't be much to watch on TV. Would the Internet function in this scenario? I have a solar-crank radio.

I can only imagine the horrors of an extended -- days, weeks, months ?? -- DC city-wide power outage.

The crime wave would be horrific.

If the rest of the country still had power, we'd all be bugging out.