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I remember news reports during the Texas power outage where people were complaining that their freezers full of food was going bad even though it was like 15 degrees outside.  With this stupidity I give us less than 24 hours.

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In February 2021, a winter storm that swept through Texas caused one of the most severe power crises in American history. The cold weather created shockingly high electricity demands as people tried to keep their homes warm. But it also caused problems with the power supply because power plants themselves and their supporting infrastructure weren't adequately protected against freezing weather. The result was that Texas couldn't generate enough power to meet demand. Instead they would have to disconnect customers to reduce demands down to  manageable levels. But before grid operators could shed enough load from the system, the frequency of the alternating current dropped as the remaining generators were bogged down, falling below 59.4 hertz for over 4 minutes.

It might not seem like much, but that is a critical threshold in grid operations. It's 1% below nominal. Power plants have relays that keep track of grid frequency and disconnect equipment if anything goes awry to prevent serious damage. If the grid frequency drops below 59.4 hertz, the clock starts ticking. And if it doesn't return to the nominal frequency within 9 minutes, the relays trip! That means the Texas grid came within a bathroom break from total collapse. If a few more large power plants tripped offline or too few customers were shed from the system in time, it's likely that the frequency would have continued to drop until every single generator on the grid was disconnected.

Thankfully, that nightmare scenario was avoided. Still, despite operators preventing a total collapse, the 2021 power crisis was one of the most expensive and deadly disasters in Texas history. If those four minutes had gone differently, it's almost impossible to imagine how serious the consequences would be. Let's put ourselves in the theoretical boots of someone waking up after that frigid February night in Texas, assuming the grid did collapse, and find out. I'm Grady, and this is Practical Engineering. In today's episode, we're talking about the impacts of blackouts on other infrastructure.

Every so often some loud noise wakes you from your sleep: a truck backfiring on the street outside, a baby crying, a cat knocking something off a shelf. But it's a very different thing altogether to be awoken by silence, your unconscious mind telling you that the sounds you should be hearing are gone. It only takes a groggy minute to piece it together. The refrigerator is silent, no air is flowing through the heating register, the ceiling fan above your head is slowly coming to a stop. The power is out. You check your phone. It's 4AM. Nothing you can really do but go back to sleep and hope they get it fixed by daylight.

Most of us have experienced a power outage at some point, but they're usually short (lasting on the order of minutes or hours) and they're mostly local (affecting a small area at a time). A wide area interconnection - that's the technical term for a power grid - is designed that way on purpose. It has redundancies, multiple paths that power can take to get to the same destination, and power users and producers are spread out, reducing the chance that they could be impacted all at once. But having everyone interconnected is a vulnerability too, because if things go very wrong, everyone is affected. We're in the midst of a deep dive series on wide scale outages to the power grid, and a mismatch between supply and demand (like what happened in Texas) is only one of the many reasons that could cause a major blackout. Natural disasters, engineering errors, and deliberate attacks can all completely collapse a grid, and - at least for the first few hours of an outage - you might not even know that what you're experiencing is any more serious than a wayward tree branch tripping the fuse on the transformer outside your house.

You wake up 3 hours later, cold, sunlight peeking in through your bedroom window. The power is still off. You grab your cell phone to try and figure out what's going on. It has a full battery from charging overnight, and you have a strong signal too. You try to call a friend, but the call won't go through. You try a few more times, but still, nothing more than a friendly voice saying "All Circuits Are Busy."

There is a vast array of pathways that information flows between people across the globe, and they all use grid power to function. Fiber networks use switches and optical terminals distributed throughout the service area. Cable TV and DSL networks have nodes that service around 500 to 1000 customers each that require power. Cellular networks use base stations mounted on towers or rooftops. Major telecommunications facilities are usually on prioritized grid circuits and may even have redundant power feeds from multiple substations, but even during a blackout where the entire grid is completely disabled, you might still have service. That's because most telecommunication facilities are equipped with backup batteries that can keep them running during a power outage for 4 to 8 hours. Critical facilities like cellular base stations and data-centers often have an on-site backup generator. These generators have enough fuel to extend the resiliency beyond 24 to 48 hours. That said, major emergencies create huge demands on telecommunication services as everyone is trying to find and share information at once, so you might not be able to get through even if the services are still available. In the US, the federal government works with telecommunications providers to create priority channels so that 911 calls, emergency management communications, and other matters related to public safety can get through even when the networks are congested.

Since you're trying to make a personal call and you aren't enrolled in the Telecommunications Service Priority program, you're not getting through. Just then, an emergency alert appears on your screen. It says that there's a power grid failure and to prepare for an extended outage. The reality of the situation is just starting to set in. Since most people have a cell phone, wireless emergency alerts have become an important addition to the Emergency Alert System that connects various levels of government to tv, radio, satellite, and telephone companies to disseminate public warnings and alerts. During a blackout, sharing information isn't just for likes on social media. It's how we keep people safe, connect them with resources, and maintain social order. Two-way communications like cell phones and the internet might not last long during a grid outage, so one-way networks like radio and television broadcasts are essential to keep people informed. These facilities are often equipped with more backup fuel reserves and even emergency provisions for the staff so that they can continue to operate during a blackout for weeks if necessary.

moar

i reckon merica will go full mad max within 87 hours of the grid collapsing.

what say you?

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I think that after about 3 days, most people would recognize their sole focus will be survival.  Without power to move food or water for 350 million people, it will get spicy extraordinarily fast.

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Y'all are slippin' 87 seconds.
No two weeks.
A long weekend?

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Days. Maybe hours in some cases.

I used to drive a toll road that doesn’t have many stops. There’s a stretch where there’s one gas station in the middle of an empty 100 mile stretch.

One time on that drive, that gas station lost internet. Cash only for payment. Cars backed up at the pumps, people yelling at each other, it was wild. I still had half a tank, so I got back in and kept driving.

All that over one gas station losing just internet. Calibrate accordingly.

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texans don't understand winter.

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If this thread is still front page by the time I get done with work, I’ll share my experiences working in the hospital system as part of the Emergency Management Committee.

It was wild.

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Exactly
Here’s an example for those folks that think they’ll just live off the land.

There are approximately 30 million whitetail deer in the US. There are approximately 350 million people. If just 10% of the population shoots 1 deer they are virtually extinct. Use that on any wildlife species. Bad plan.

And the people who say; “I’ll just plant a garden”. LOL. There’s a huge learning curve to that. And you’ll stave before you get any harvest whatsoever.

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A week? During the '77 Blackout, the looting in NYC began within an hour of the lights going out.
It was the same here in FL a few years back when the lights went out in some areas during a hurricane.
Within an hour, someone posted video to Twitter of a Foot Locker being looted.

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  And just how long do you think that'll last?

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I was the only guy with a generator on my street. When neighbors saw my lights they came like zombies, mostly asking to put things in my fridge. My house was the center of the universe for a few days, then FEMA showed up and gave away generators. My reward for being prepared was watching the unprepared get rewarded.

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Three meals from anarchy

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Days. Maybe hours in some cases.

I used to drive a toll road that doesn't have many stops. There's a stretch where there's one gas station in the middle of an empty 100 mile stretch.

One time on that drive, that gas station lost internet. Cash only for payment. Cars backed up at the pumps, people yelling at each other, it was wild. I still had half a tank, so I got back in and kept driving.

All that over one gas station losing just internet. Calibrate accordingly.

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If this thread is still front page by the time I get done with work, I'll share my experiences working in the hospital system as part of the Emergency Management Committee.

It was wild.

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I was the only guy with a generator on my street. When neighbors saw my lights they came like zombies, mostly asking to put things in my fridge. My house was the center of the universe for a few days, then FEMA showed up and gave away generators. My reward for being prepared was watching the unprepared get rewarded.

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3 months and it's mad max.