We have sometimes had transformers blow and need to be replaced. For some reason, it didn’t really take that long.
Most of the businesses, hospitals, walmart, grocery stores, health centers etc. in our area have their own backup generators that go on automatically when the electric goes off-that way they are not totally at the mercy of the power company’s plan.
Yes. the small local “pole pig” transformers are jellybean commodities, your local power company has scores of them in inventory.
It’s the BIG garage sized ones at the substation that are difficult to replace, they are custom built, long lead time and very expensive.
Your local hospital, etc. has emergency generators that are expected to provide a whopping 100 hours of power a year. It’s by no means certain that even if they are regularly refueled they could run continuously for the several months it would take to rebuild a fraction of the substations in this country.
Would your car last being run 24/7 for a few months?