Electricity

Electricity is essential for modern life. It runs the lights, kitchen appliances, heating and cooling, hot water, phones, internet and medical equipment a family leans on every day. When a storm, heat wave or grid failure cuts the power, those systems stop together, and downed lines can bring hazards of their own. Preppers who plan for electricity in a disaster keep their homes safe, fed and comfortable until the lights come back.

Know Your Grid

Every outage starts with the grid that feeds your home. Learn how the US power grids are divided, check your state's grid blackout risk, and see how data centers add power grid strain. Then learn how a planned rolling blackout differs from an unplanned one, so you know what to expect from each.

Surviving Without Electricity

Light, cooking, cold food, clean water, charged phones and a comfortable temperature all need a plan once the power is gone. Begin with the basics of power outage preparedness, then learn how to prepare for a power outage that lasts longer than a day. Stock a power outage kit for the whole family. Know what to do during a power outage, and what to do after a power outage once the lights return.

Keep the Lights On

Weigh your options for backup power and size the home battery backup your household needs. Then put your plan to the test with a no power challenge and find the gaps on your own schedule.