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

[timecanwait.livejournal.com]

I miss Michigan thunderstorms too :-/ I now live in Minnesota, the south end toward the plains, and gahhh the weather is so boring here.

Thanks a lot for your input! In my NaNo the outage is taking place during the winter, so it'll probably be caused by a snowstorm if nothing else. That way when people try to get to town for supplies their cars get stuck in the snow and people get stranded...gosh, I'm a mean writer :P

[onceiwasaturtle.livejournal.com]

I find myself thinking the same thing about the weather in Western Washington. (Single boom of thunder followed by rain? Seriously, that's a thunderstorm somewhere other than Alaska??)

Oooh, winter snow storm caused power outages could be major fun (to write about)! ^^ The lines could get overloaded with heavy, wet snow and snap in several places. They've done that a lot in most places I've lived. (Ice storms are worse for snapped lines, as they snap them in waaay more places than just snow storms, for the same reason of the lines being overloaded with weight. And then they can be followed by snow, and people think it's safe to drive, and then find themselves on slippery snow on top of sheets of ice and major wrecks ensue.)

Have fun writing!