Picture this – you’re at home enjoying your favorite movie and dinner then, BAM! Everything shuts down in your home. You venture outside to find neighbors lining the dark streets wielding flash lights and candles. The sky is clear with no storms forecast for the evening, so how is everyone’s power out? You may have just found yourself in a blackout.

Blackouts occur when your electricity grid is running at maximum capacity while everyone in your city is using electricity. Multiple power plants provide you with energy, and if one of those plants suddenly goes off line due to lighting strike, geomagnetic storm or even a fire within the generator, those other plants must ramp up production to meet the demand. If those are nearing max capacity, they too will go off line creating a chain reaction of disconnection and has the potential of leaving millions without power.

One thing to note here in this situation is that energy cannot be stored. There isn’t a large battery the production facilities can use to store extra power. Energy is produced and delivered at the rate of which customers use it. Too little energy production leaves folks without power, and too much energy production causes blackouts.

Energy production and delivery is a very detailed process that can affect entire cities when issues occur. 4Change is here to assist with all your energy questions and to serve you. When you experience a power outage, we recommend calling your local TDU which can be found here.

Remember, always have a portable battery charger ready to power your phone in case of an emergency and, if available, keep a generator and fresh fuel for when you need energy most!