Power Outages

[timecanwait.livejournal.com]

I don't know how to go about researching this without getting on a terrorist watch list, haha.

I'm trying to write a mass power outage into my story.  But I need to know:

• Would outages happen on a city by city basis, or could something happen to make an entire state lose electricity?
• If said outage were to happen, what could cause it?
• I'm sure this depends on the cause of the outage, but worst case scenario, how long would people be without power?
• What types of buildings have backup generators to insure they will still have power in case of emergency?  Hospitals and jails, I'm sure, but what else?  Would a bank have a backup generator to keep the alarms going and the safe locked if the power's out?

The story is taking place in the USA.  I Googled "National Grid USA" and found that there's a company by that name that manages just a few states.  So am I correct in assuming there is no large-scale utility authority that manages the entire country?  That's fine, it just makes my job harder, because I will have to write in several smaller outages instead of just POOFing everyone's electricity, haha.

Comments

[shad0wg8.livejournal.com]

Places that also often have generators are grocery stores and nursing home/assisted living homes and restaurants. Some churches may have them too, depending on what area you're in. I'm in Kentucky so a lot of the churches here have generators because they're used for tornado shelters etc. WalMart and big chain stores also usually have generators.

We had a really bad wind storm a year or so ago, and it knocked the power out through most of the city for about 2 weeks if not longer in some places. If going for weather or something similar to knock the power out, you should check up on what city it's in. Some of the newer homes have the power lines underground to prevent power loss from ice and wind.

Hope some of this helps!

[timecanwait.livejournal.com]

The area I grew up in (northern MN) had all underground power lines, so when I moved I was like, what are all these wires on everyones houses?!

But thanks, churches are something I hadn't considered but that's so true, they are often used as shelters or emergency aid bases during emergencies. Thanks!