For years, if not decades, we’ve known the power grid was vulnerable and outdated. But nothing was ever done to rectify the problem. Nothing.
I’ve asked electric companies why they neglect the problem when they know what a sustained power outage means. I’ve also pulled workers aside and asked them privately similar questions. At the very least, isn’t that what the regulators should be concerned about?
Nobody has any answers - at least to me.
Someone tell me why this is not all a plan to usher in Martial Law and/or a Police State - with minimum of resistance from the commoners.
Relates to post and your concerns regarding government deliberate inaction to harden power grid, will ensure an inevitable “very bad day”.
http://www.arrl.org/news/communications-interoperability-training-with-amateur-radio-community-set
[UPDATED 3 November 2017 @ 2320 UTC]
From the U.S. Army’s Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM): The exercise will simulate a power-outage scenario; it will not impact any public or private communications. There will be no power outages or communication systems outages.
This exercise is designed to improve readiness, build cooperation and public awareness, and better prepare to defend the nation.
To clarify time of broadcast on 60 meters: A military station on the east coast and the Fort Huachuca, Arizona, HF station will conduct a high-power broadcast on 60-meter channel 1 (5330.5 kHz) on November 5 from 0300 to 0315 UTC (Saturday, November 4, in US time zones).
Elements of the US Department of Defense (DOD) will conduct a “communications interoperability” training exercise November 4-6, once again simulating a “very bad day” scenario. Amateur Radio and MARS organizations will take part.
“This exercise will begin with a notional massive coronal mass ejection event which will impact the national power grid as well as all forms of traditional communication, including landline telephone, cellphone, satellite, and Internet connectivity,” Army MARS Program Manager Paul English, WD8DBY, explained in an announcement.
During the exercise, a designated DOD Headquarters entity will request county-by-county status reports for the 3,143 US counties and county equivalents, in order to gain situational awareness and to determine the extent of impact of the scenario. Army and Air Force MARS organizations will work in conjunction with the Amateur Radio community, primarily on the 60-meter interoperability channels as well as on HF NVIS frequencies and local VHF and UHF, non-Internet linked Amateur Radio repeaters.
Again this year, a military station on the east coast and the Fort Huachuca, Arizona, HF station will conduct a high-power broadcast on 60-meter channel 1 (5330.5 kHz) on November 5 from 0300 to 0315 UTC (Saturday, November 4, in US time zones). New this year will be an informational broadcast on Sunday, November 5, on 13,483.5 kHz USB from 1600 to 1615 UTC. Amateur Radio operators should monitor these broadcasts for more information about the exercise and how they can participate in this communications exercise, English said.
“We want to continue building on the outstanding cooperative working relationship with the ARRL and the Amateur Radio community,” English said. “We want to expand the use of the 60-meter interop channels between the military and amateur community for emergency communications, and we hope the Amateur Radio community will give us some good feedback on the use of both the 5-MHz interop and the new 13-MHz broadcast channels as a means of information dissemination during a very bad day scenario.
We are on a well system. Two days ago our well pump failed and for a couple of reasons we won’t be able to get a new pump in and have our water fully restored until late tomorrow.
We are quite resourceful and have great neighbors who have allowed us use of their water via filling up buckets from their hose. This has brought to the brutal fore about half the distress and mass bedlam there would be with significant and sustained power outages as a result of the grid being crippled.
We have electricity of course, but being totally without running water is very difficult instantly requiring life altering changes. Toilets no longer flush. There are no showers. Simple hand washing becomes a minor project. There is no laundry and cleaned clothes. Very quickly sanitation becomes an issue.
We will have our running water restored, but this very clearly brought into focus the absolute catastrophe it would be to have the grid go down. I kind of clucked my tongue when some reports have said that millions would die after a short period of time with widespread power outages. I now completely agree. The larger the grid outage the more multiples of millions will die.
Lack of water. Lack of refrigeration. Lack of heat. Sanitation will rapidly go. People will easily and very, very quickly panic and the thin social structure will fast be gone and it will be every man for himself/family.
That utilities and their overseers haven’t hardened the system is simply unbelievable to me. Power companies waste a lot of ratepayer money on really stupid stuff, but they never institute even a long range plan to harden their system. Regulators don’t require it yet provide incentives to chase stupid green technology.
A complete mystery. One day we will pay for this and the lucky survivors will get to point fingers at those to blame.