We had a couple very, very brief power outages here over the weekend. They didnt disturb my life too broadly because 1) they were of fairly short duration..only an hour or so, b) I’ve long reconciled myself to the notion of how to live with minimal or zero grid delivery, and III) I have some backup systems in place.
There’s been a bit of a Streisand Effect on infrastructure disruptions. Our electrical, water, gas, and other utility distribution networks have always been, for the most part, unguarded and completely vulnerable to even the mildest attack. But…such attacks, at least as reported, were few and far between. But when they do start getting reported, it gives someone somewhere the bright idea to go cause some mayhem and they wind up shooting up a power transformer, busting up a rail switching system, or punching a hole in a pipeline just because.
And, as we’ve made our infrastructure more connected and more complex…well…As the patron saint of engineering said:
The point being, in this world we live in…where everyone with a grudge, real or imagined, is just a .30-06 or a backhoe away from turning off the power and water…things like electricy, gas, and water are going to be less certain than they are now. Add in the age and inadequacy of many region’s infrastructure and you have a recipe for more frequent disruptions, not less.
As far as electricity goes, years ago I evaluated what I considered absolutely necessary for my security and safety in terms of power. I have kerosene and propane for heating, lighting, cooking, and that sort of thing. My critical must-have electrical needs are to keep my frozen food frozen and to keep me security cameras camming. Thats about it. And those needs are easily met with a little ol’ EU2000.
My smaller electrical needs are things like flashlights, radio batteries, cell phone charging, and that sort of thing. Those are met pretty easily by rechargeable batteries and a small solar panel..although I can recharge off the EU2000 if I really need to.
After the freezer and security cams, anything else is a luxury. But the important thing is that at some point you need to sit down and examine what exactly are your must-have’s that will require electricity. For most of us, its going to be freezers. For some it’ll also be well pumps and maybe pressure tanks. Some folks in particular situations will also need sewage pumps. Or perhaps you’ve got a medical situation that requires electricity for a treatment device. There’s no shortage of things that are ‘must have’s when it comes to electricity. You just need to figure out what yours are and then plan accordingly.
As I said, power outages are just a minor hiccup for me…I know exactly what my needs are (freezer and cams) and what my ‘I can get by with less’ things are (everything else). But you have to at least have an idea of what you do and don’t need before you start shopping around for things like generators and kerosene lamps.