When You Think About It, This is the Most Likely Scenario

[Moped]

I think this is the most likely scenario for a nationwide SHTF scenario.  I can tell you that our regional electrical supplier is working hard to keep this from happening, but I'm not sure they can do much about it at this point.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/20/politics/nsa-china-power-grid/index.html?hpt=hp_t4

 

[Grand Torino]

This is what happens when the gubberment spends all their money of frivolous programs, causes and welfare instead of updating our power grid, roads and bridges and borders. I fully expect the power grid to fail long before the Chinese ever gets around to shutting it down.....just sayin'.

[runco]

Long periods without electricity, hmmmm:

-Cell phones won't work

-internet won't work

 

That will just make the dumb public mad!  China better not poke that bear!

[RED333]

In the winter it would be very bad, just how will you heat your home?

[nightrunner]

In the winter it would be very bad, just how will you heat your home?

Wood or gas?

[Ted S.]

The key to all of this is to stop growing and manicuring weeds and start growing potatoes.

[RED333]

Wood or gas?

We have been using wood for over 20 years, had propane gas for a few years, but gave it up over price.

Nether needed power.

[Grayfox54]

The entire infrastructure of this country is on the verge of collapse. Power grids, roads, bridges and water supply. It seems congess would rather waste our tax dollars on worthless government programs and sending billions each year to countries that hate us. 

All the Chinese have to do is wait. 

[RAJTENN]

Having recently experienced several days of power outage I found it to be an eye opening experience. There were a lot of little things that would have made the situation more tolerable. It might be a good test run to trip the main breaker and go without electricity for several days as a test. I think you will find that there things you need to make it through a weekend with no electricity...unless, of course, you are already off the grid.

[DWARREN123]

If I lose electricity I would go to burning libs. They are so full of it they should burn long and hot!

[whitewolf001]

Having recently experienced several days of power outage I found it to be an eye opening experience. There were a lot of little things that would have made the situation more tolerable. It might be a good test run to trip the main breaker and go without electricity for several days as a test. I think you will find that there things you need to make it through a weekend with no electricity...unless, of course, you are already off the grid.

An excellent idea, especially to do during the winter to test the capabilities of ones own preparations. The military performs exercises all the time to ensure concise reaction to specific situations, we as preppers should be doing just the same. It's why I'm going to attend several tactical courses this coming year and "try" to prolong or forgo any firearms purchases and just invest in ammo and training as I've never had any formal weapons training at all. I'm familiar with the concepts and ideas but still need some, well maybe alot, instruction.

Edited December 11, 2014 by whitewolf001

[m16ty]

If a power outage is widespread and lengthy, you won't have any natural gas or gasoline either.

 

Natural gas requires pumps (that are powered by electric motors and electronics) to move it from the well to your house. Gasoline also requires pumps to get it from point A to point B to in your tank.

 

I do a lot of contract work for a municipal water department. You would be surprised at how fragile the system is. I've been called out on jobs where they were literally minutes away from a widespread and lengthy system collapse. We always got it fixed and the unknowing public never knows how close they came to loosing water or sewage backing up into their house.

 

The sewer system is actually more critical to urban areas that water is. If the plant shuts down, very soon there will be sewage running down the streets and a fairly large portion of the water supplies will be heavily polluted. This leads the way for a lot of diseases.       

[ProfEngr]

"Gas" needs pump stations to flow, afaik. However, gasoline can be pulled direct from the underground tanks unless there is an anti-siphon device in the fill tube. Just need a 12v or manual pump.

[raildog]

I took a tour of the Columbia Gulf pumping facility years a go and they were completely off the grid the pumps were run by large internal combustion engines that ran on natural gas and had a large generator that ran on the same

[Randall53]

I've worked many years in the power industry. Transformers are by far the largest expense in the grid. That and power station generators. Everything in a switchyard is there to protect those two items. Transformers and the Generators. Transformers are super expensive, especially the really larger ones in the 161KV, 500KV and larger for the main transmission lines. My experience has shown these are not per-manufactured sitting in a warehouse somewhere, but are custom built to order with an 18 month to 2 year lead time. The plant I worked at replaced 3 of these types of transformers and each one was a 2 to 3 year project and the cost was in the tens of millions of dollars with each transformer alone costing over $5 million. The fact is, with a collapse of the grid, Millions would die. Take a look around in your homes, neighborhoods and cities. Everything you touch and everything you see is dependent on electricity and would be useless, or used up in days. What then?

 

Sobering thought huh? It's too bad our leaders can't see this.

Edited December 11, 2014 by Randall53

[Mark A]

People hear transformers and think of the little guys hanging on power poles. The main transformers first in line after generators are massive. Blow those and it is game over.

Mark

[whitewolf001]

People hear transformers and think of the little guys hanging on power poles. The main transformers first in line after generators are massive. Blow those and it is game over.

Mark

 

I think of the little guys that turned into cars when I was a kid... ;)

[ProfEngr]

I think the "leaders" know it and don't care. They think they have sufficient insulation from such national disasters. Randall53 is spot on.

[Moped]

People hear transformers and think of the little guys hanging on power poles. The main transformers first in line after generators are massive. Blow those and it is game over.

Mark

Right now it's almost a two year wait for a new 500kV transformer to be manufactured and arrive on site.  Takes a specialized tractor trailer to get them where they need to be.

[Ted S.]

The entire infrastructure of this country is on the verge of collapse. Power grids, roads, bridges and water supply. It seems congess would rather waste our tax dollars on worthless government programs and sending billions each year to countries that hate us. 

All the Chinese have to do is wait. 

 

For the past seven years, everytime I turn on talk radio or the news, we are just "six months" from chaos. Seven years. Meanwhile, people can continue to wait for the government to "save us all" from the collapse and "crumbling" infrastructure, but that hasn't happened, and will not happen. We can vote "them" out all we want, but in the end, the government will continue to line the pockets of the ruling class and do nothing to help anyone else. That's what all governments have stood for since the first group of people discovered they could rule others.

Edited December 19, 2014 by Ted S.

[TrickyNicky]

For the past seven years, everytime I turn on talk radio or the news, we are just "six months" from chaos. Seven years...

Man we've been 6 months to a year away from break down since at least 2001. :rolleyes: I can remember watching shows about it on the history channel in the before times... Before the aliens.