However, we can indeed survive just fine without electricity - we did it for thousands of years obviously.
No. Because we are now DEPENDENT upon electricity.
Expect the soulless creatures in our cities to become worse than animals in search of food.
American Blackout 2013 - National Geographic
http://www.eei.org/issuesandpolicy/...omagnetic Pulses (EMPs) - Myths vs. Facts.pdf
Myth: Electric utilities are completely unprepared for an EMP event.
Fact: Electric utilities plan for a number of threats to the grid. As they make their risk-based threat assessments, they identify the likelihood and consequence of each threat to understand their security priorities. Solar storms, some of which can cause GMD events, are naturally occurring phenomena that come with some prior warning.
Utility system owners and operators recognize the risks posed by solar storms and have put into place operating processes and procedures to manage GMD risks. The high-altitude nuclear weapon scenario is noteworthy because its consequences could be extraordinarily high; however, given U.S. military and intelligence community capabilities, as well as geo-political deterrence efforts, the relative likelihood of such an attack is very low. Additionally, with strategic EMP shielding, spare equipment stockpiles, and partnerships with government, the electric utility industry already is taking preparatory steps to respond and recover. Still, in the case of potentially high-consequence, low-likelihood events like a nuclear attack, the most effective mitigation strategy is deterrence, prevention, or preemption by military means.
The use of a directed energy weapon may be statistically more likely, but the consequence is much less because it would be a localized event. In addition, with 45,000 substations across the United States, the destruction of one or two substations would not have a widespread impact on the grid. A larger coordinated attack could have a potentially broader impact, but is less likely to occur because such coordinated plots have a higher chance of detection and intervention by law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
Myth: Electric utilities don’t take threats to their infrastructure seriously.
Fact: Protecting the nation’s electric power grid and ensuring a reliable and affordable supply of energy are top priorities for the electric power industry. Electric utilities take all threats to the grid seriously, whether they are natural disasters or man-made threats. Electric utilities also have every incentive to protect their systems: first, there is a public service responsibility to maintain reliable and affordable electricity service; second, there is an economic incentive to keep the lights on. To help keep electricity reliable and affordable, utilities and state regulators assess each type of threat to grid security as part of an overall risk management strategy.
Myth: The industry has done very little continuity planning for hard-to-replace equipment such as large power transformers.
Fact: The electric power industry has taken specific steps to prepare for, prevent, respond to, and recover from threats to the electric grid. Electric utilities plan for all types of contingencies and have spare equipment available as part of their business continuity planning. Just as utilities share emergency restoration crews as part of the industry’s voluntary mutual assistance program, they also share transformers and other equipment regularly. Recognizing that catastrophic destruction of a significant substation can potentially cause substantial power loss, the electric power industry created the Spare Transformer Equipment Program (STEP) in 2006.
More than 50 electric utilities dispersed across the country and engaged in bulk power transmission services are members of STEP, and this number continues to grow.
STEP is designed to ensure that the electric power industry has a process in place to have sufficient spare transformer capacity available. Since there is interchangeability between transformers within a voltage class, STEP provides a ready mechanism for participating electric utilities to share assets in the event of catastrophic destruction.
To complement STEP, SpareConnect provides an online tool for electric utilities, asset owners, and operators to network with other SpareConnect members concerning sharing of transmission and generation step-up transformers and related equipment, including bushings, fans, and auxiliary components. SpareConnect establishes a digital, formal, secure, and efficient program to rapidly communicate equipment needs in the event of an emergency or of other non-routine failures.
Myth: Regardless of cost, we must immediately make all necessary investments to protect the electric grid from an EMP.
Fact: Deploying expensive technology that is unproven is not effective risk management. The electric power sector often is described as the most critical of the critical infrastructure sectors. While it is true that other critical sectors depend on a reliable supply of electricity for their operations, the electric power industry likewise is dependent on other critical infrastructure sectors for business continuity as well.
Electric utilities need: water to cool their systems and to create steam that spins generating equipment; telecommunications to operate the grid; and transportation and pipeline systems to move the fuel sources they use. Thus, our adversaries don’t have to just attack the electric grid to disrupt power.
It takes a coordinated effort among different critical infrastructure sectors and the government to protect grid reliability and operations. In the case of a high-level EMP event that could potentially render any device containing a microprocessor inoperable, the issue should be addressed across all critical sectors by national defense authorities. Again, the best strategy to protect against such EMP events is to prevent them from occurring in the first place.
