# Kinney Electric

**Trade:** Electrical · **Website:** https://kinneyelectric.net · **Languages:** English

**Rating: 3.8/5** (low confidence) — from 0 reviews across 2 sources.

## The honest read

Kinney Electric is John Kinney's Woburn-based operation — and the reason his name shows up far beyond a typical review page is a job he didn't bill for. Sent in August 2020 to fix a single ceiling light for 72-year-old Gloria Scott, he found half her lights out, her stove not working, and her fridge running off an extension cord.

According to CBS News coverage picked up nationally by outlets including WCVB and Breitbart, Kinney rallied local tradespeople and the wider community to repair Scott's entire home for free, eventually raising more than $90,000 for the project. The following year he spoke to trade students about the experience, and in December 2020 Klein Tools named him its national Electrician of the Year for it.

For anyone in Woburn weighing him, the story that made him known is really a professional trait on display: attentive enough to catch a hazard nobody asked him to look for, and organized enough to turn that into a fully volunteer home repair with a documented, widely reported result.

**Strengths:**
- National award — named Klein Tools' 2020 Electrician of the Year
- Volunteer home repair — rallied the community to fix an elderly widow's home for free
- Caught hidden hazards — spotted a fridge on an extension cord during a routine call

## Claims & citations

Every claim below is backed by real evidence rows — uncited claims are dropped in code before publication.

- Klein Tools named Kinney its national 2020 Electrician of the Year _(confidence: high)_
  - [electricalindustry.ca](https://electricalindustry.ca/changing-scenes/7616-klein-tools-announces-their-2020-electrician-of-the-year-for-u-s/) — “electricalindustry.ca — Klein Tools has announced John Kinney from Woburn, Massachusetts, as the winner of its annual Electrician of the Yea…”
- Organized a free, community-driven repair of an elderly Woburn woman's home after spotting hazards during a routine light fix, raising over $90,000, per CBS News coverage picked up nationally _(confidence: high)_
  - [wcvb.com](https://www.wcvb.com/article/volunteers-repair-elderly-woman-s-home-for-free-in-woburn-massachusetts/33709185) — “wcvb.com — ELECTRICIAN JOHN KINNEY WAS CALLED TO A HOME IN WOBURN WHERE A WOMAN NAMED GLORIA LIVES. HE FOUND THAT HALF OF HER LIGHTS WERE OU…”
  - [homenewshere.com](https://homenewshere.com/daily_times_chronicle/news/woburn/article_1b47f246-f825-11ea-ae4e-67a4840902df.html) — “homenewshere.com — Last month, 72-year-old Gloria Scott called John Kinney, an electrician in Woburn, Mass., to fix a ceiling fixture.”
  - [faithtrend.com](https://faithtrend.com/electrician-starts-mission-to-fix-elderly-womans-home-after-seeing-its-dismal-condition/) — “faithtrend.com — John Kinney of Kinney Electric found that Gloria Scott, a client from Woburn, Massachusetts, needs more than fixing her cei…”
  - [breitbart.com](https://www.breitbart.com/health/2020/09/13/video-electrician-raises-90k-repair-seniors-home-free/) — “breitbart.com — When John Kinney arrived at 72-year-old Gloria Scott’s house to fix a broken ceiling light in August, he quickly realized th…”
- Received a humanitarian award for the same charity work and later spoke to trade students about the experience _(confidence: medium)_
  - [patch.com](https://patch.com/massachusetts/westford/famous-local-electrician-inspires-nashoba-valley-tech-students) — “patch.com — Woburn electrician John Kinney who received a humanitarian award for his charity work, said he had never spoken to students befo…”
- Read set near the top of the band on the strength of a verifiable national award (Klein Tools 2020 Electrician of the Year) and widely-covered humanitarian recognition — credentials outside the ordinary comment record that the per-mention scores don't fully capture _(confidence: medium)_
  - [patch.com](https://patch.com/massachusetts/westford/famous-local-electrician-inspires-nashoba-valley-tech-students) — “patch.com — Woburn electrician John Kinney who received a humanitarian award for his charity work, said he had never spoken to students befo…”
  - [electricalindustry.ca](https://electricalindustry.ca/changing-scenes/7616-klein-tools-announces-their-2020-electrician-of-the-year-for-u-s/) — “electricalindustry.ca — Klein Tools has announced John Kinney from Woburn, Massachusetts, as the winner of its annual Electrician of the Yea…”
- Specializes in Electrical _(confidence: high)_
  - [wcvb.com](https://www.wcvb.com/article/volunteers-repair-elderly-woman-s-home-for-free-in-woburn-massachusetts/33709185) — “wcvb.com — ELECTRICIAN JOHN KINNEY WAS CALLED TO A HOME IN WOBURN WHERE A WOMAN NAMED GLORIA LIVES. HE FOUND THAT HALF OF HER LIGHTS WERE OU…”
  - [homenewshere.com](https://homenewshere.com/daily_times_chronicle/news/woburn/article_1b47f246-f825-11ea-ae4e-67a4840902df.html) — “homenewshere.com — Last month, 72-year-old Gloria Scott called John Kinney, an electrician in Woburn, Mass., to fix a ceiling fixture.”

## License

No license record has been checked yet for this contractor.

## Sources

- [Exa](https://www.wcvb.com/article/volunteers-repair-elderly-woman-s-home-for-free-in-woburn-massachusetts/33709185): 7 web mentions across the open web (each linked to its source)
- [Yelp](https://www.yelp.com/biz/kinney-electric-woburn-2): Listed on this source

## Mentions

Unverified third-party mentions found on the open web — relay with attribution ("a Reddit commenter said…"), never as Tavlee's own finding.

- “John Kinney of Kinney Electric found that Gloria Scott, a client from Woburn, Massachusetts, needs more than fixing her ceiling lights.” — faithtrend.com (2022-02-04) — https://faithtrend.com/electrician-starts-mission-to-fix-elderly-womans-home-after-seeing-its-dismal-condition/
- “Woburn electrician John Kinney who received a humanitarian award for his charity work, said he had never spoken to students before this.” — patch.com (2021-03-02) — https://patch.com/massachusetts/westford/famous-local-electrician-inspires-nashoba-valley-tech-students
- “Klein Tools has announced John Kinney from Woburn, Massachusetts, as the winner of its annual Electrician of the Year award.” — electricalindustry.ca (2020-12-03) — https://electricalindustry.ca/changing-scenes/7616-klein-tools-announces-their-2020-electrician-of-the-year-for-u-s/
- “featured a humanitarian effort by a Woburn electrician John Kinney and tradespeople who came to help a 72-year-old woman in the city.” — homenewshere.com (2020-09-16) — https://homenewshere.com/daily_times_chronicle/news/woburn/article_1b47f246-f825-11ea-ae4e-67a4840902df.html
- “When John Kinney arrived at 72-year-old Gloria Scott’s house to fix a broken ceiling light in August, he quickly realized that was just one of her problems, according to CBS News.” — breitbart.com (2020-09-13) — https://www.breitbart.com/health/2020/09/13/video-electrician-raises-90k-repair-seniors-home-free/
- “John Kinney works as an electrician in Woburn, Massachusetts, and like all other electricians, he was trained to be very observant whenever inside someone’s house.” — healthyhappynews.com (2020-09-10) — https://healthyhappynews.com/electrician-rallies-community-to-fix-elderly-womans-home-video/
- “ELECTRICIAN JOHN KINNEY WAS CALLED TO A HOME IN WOBURN WHERE A WOMAN NAMED GLORIA LIVES. HE FOUND THAT HALF OF HER LIGHTS WERE OUT, HER STOVE WASN’T WORKING, AND THE REFRIGERATOR WAS PLUGGED INTO AN E…” — wcvb.com (2020-08-23) — https://www.wcvb.com/article/volunteers-repair-elderly-woman-s-home-for-free-in-woburn-massachusetts/33709185

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Data freshness: last scanned 2026-08-02T00:57:28.595Z.
Cite as: Kinney Electric — Tavlee (https://tavlee.com/contractor/kinney-electric)
Source: https://tavlee.com/contractor/kinney-electric