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Thread: US Power Grid

  1. #11
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    Instead of an EMP nuke taking out our national grid, I am more concerned that just some local accident or terrorist activity could take it down.

    Two weeks ago, I was ready to head out and plunk a couple grand down for a portable generator that would take care of our most basic needs. Enough to run 'fridge, freezer a couple of lights, even our central heater if necessary. )Being in SoCal we do not experience the cold of many of you and could gt by with just extra clothing and blankets.) Then my wife's transmission took a dump on her way home from work. Genny put on hold until we can pay off the transmission work.

    As far as the division of the national grid into two parts plus Texas, it would make sense for the operators of the system to have ways to switch the system into many smaller parts if needed. My knowledge of electricity ends where the two plugs enter the wall but it seems it should not be too difficult to do.

  2. #12
    Do you have a robot?
    realist's Avatar
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    Socal, an accident like that happened several years ago, someone threw the wrong switch. That incident caused an outage throughout southern California, parts of Arizona and Nevada as well as northern Mexico. So picture if something like that caused a domino effect for a long period, not good.
    If it is predictable then it is preventable....... Gordon Graham

    So if it is predictable and preventable then you better prepare.

  3. #13
    The source of all known trouble in the universe



    RedJohn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by realist View Post
    No one seems to be concerned
    It was a real concern for Y2K.
    Altar Arms - 01 FFL (772) 497-6550 - Located in Port Saint Lucie, FL
    15$ transfers for SHTF Ready members! WE TAKE TRADES!

  4. #14
    may be in trouble


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    And just popped up on ZeroHedge:

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-1...ity-three-days

    Similar to a post I had earlier on here about an atrocious item called "American Blackout".

    Kesephist

  5. #15
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    So if the national grid does go down, how much gasoline are people going to already have in storage to run their generators? While an EMP is always a possibility, I still think it will be either an accident or a small band of terrorists that take us out for quite some time.

    A few weeks, even months, ok. A few years, most of us are screwed.

  6. #16
    I'll most likely shit myself



    bacpacker's Avatar
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    My main goals for stored fuel are to run a small Gen y enough to keep my freezers cold while processing the goods inside, and running my tiller and chain saw sparsely as needed. Diesel will be co sued to do tillage for the garden only. And I'm trying to come up with solutions around that long term.
    A thing else will be solar.

  7. #17
    may be in trouble


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    Been looking at human powered gensets with battery/supercapacitor storage. K-tor's Powerbox is a nice one for one or two deepcycles provided you have an inverter. And i for one will not have the slightest problem with pedaling and periodically checking the batteries with a voltmeter, and a oldschool brute force DPDT switch between charger and inverter, instead of computer commands. Key stuff for comms.

  8. #18
    He's old and grumpy, but not fat. He'll be right back...he has to go tell some kids to get off his lawn

    Stg1swret's Avatar
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    If. or perhaps I should say when the US power grid goes down, it will get ugly real fast. I'm an "ols school type of guy, so I have a ton of hand tools. I can get by without all the modern conveniences. No generator, don't keep much fuel on hand. I do keep my car filled up. Take a page from the Amish play book, they have gotten by for hundreds of years without all the things we take for granted. If we have a major grid issue, by day 4, we'll see thousands dead and riots all over as people try to get the resources they think they need or are entitled to.
    "There are no winners in war, only bigger losers"


    If you see me or hear me coming, I'm not doing my job.

  9. #19
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    It only took about 20 minutes for the entire NE including parts of eastern Canada to go dark in 2003. And it took some more than two days to get power back...Because one line touched some foliage and the software had a bug.

  10. #20
    Bacon saver

    Brownwater Riverrat 13's Avatar
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    Well, it could/will get real ugly, If and when It does happen. Now with a new administration checking in, and who is supposed to be aware of our FUBAR infrastructure when it comes to the power grid. We might just get an upgrade afterall.............but I'm not holding my breath, I'm going to buy wire to be able to put my solar equip. together.

    Hell, right now the snow storms are knocking out power. You know, climate change, it got cold all of the sudden, then this white stuff came out of the sky, scared the shit out of everybody. Cars wreckin, people stayin indoors, white stuff everywhere! Then........silence............"thank you Lord for letting me live in the country so I can at least get a head start before these idiots show up in our neck-o-the-woods." "Sorry for all the shit I done and what I'm about to do.......Amen"

    Some people are just stupid, ya know?
    Be safe.............the night is your friend.

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