Lights Out

Lights Out
Author: Ted Koppel
Publisher: Crown
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2015
Genre: Book clubs (Discussion groups)
ISBN: 055341996X

A nation unprepared : surviving the aftermath of a blackout where tens of millions of people over several states are affected.

Total Power

Total Power
Author: Vince Flynn
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2020-09-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1501190679

“One of the best thriller writers on the planet.” —The Real Book Spy In the next thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling Mitch Rapp series, it’s a race against the clock when ISIS takes out the entire US power grid and throws the country into chaos. When Mitch Rapp captures ISIS’s top technology expert, he reveals that he was on his way to meet a man who claims to have the ability to bring down America’s power grid. Rapp is determined to eliminate this shadowy figure, but the CIA’s trap fails. The Agency is still trying to determine what went wrong when ISIS operatives help this cyber terrorist do what he said he could—plunge the country into darkness. With no concept of how this unprecedented act was accomplished, the task of getting the power back on could take months. Perhaps even years. Rapp and his team embark on a desperate search for the only people who know how to repair the damage—the ones responsible. But his operating environment is like nothing he’s experienced before. Computers and communication networks are down, fuel can no longer be pumped from gas stations, water and sanitation systems are on the brink of collapse, and the supply of food is running out. Can Rapp get the lights back on before America descends irretrievably into chaos? This compulsive thriller proves once again that the Mitch Rapp series is “the best of the best when it comes to the world of special ops” (Booklist, starred review).

Power Grid Down

Power Grid Down
Author: Tara Dodrill
Publisher: CreateSpace
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2014-08-24
Genre:
ISBN: 9781500945572

Discover why threats to the power grid put American life, as we know it, at total risk. Learn preparedness tips and techniques which will help you and your family survive after the lights go out. And even learn how to thrive in the new reality, for the long-term. Learn off the grid living, homesteading, and retreat buying tips to help you avoid pitfalls that could quickly unravel even the best of survival plans. How will you make a living in a power grid down society? Where are the best places to score cheap preps? Do you know what to do when you can't call the fire department? What the best bartering items? Can you grow your own medicine? What are the best off the grid home options? How will you educate your children? Can you treat common livestock ailments to help protect your food supply? What are morale boosters and why are they important? This book will answer all those questions and more!

Lethal Agent

Lethal Agent
Author: Vince Flynn
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2021-09-07
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1982147547

An unprecedented and terrifying bioterrorism plot threatens to kill millions in the midst of a divisive presidential election in this new thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling Mitch Rapp series.

Enhancing the Resilience of the Nation's Electricity System

Enhancing the Resilience of the Nation's Electricity System
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 171
Release: 2017-10-25
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309463076

Americans' safety, productivity, comfort, and convenience depend on the reliable supply of electric power. The electric power system is a complex "cyber-physical" system composed of a network of millions of components spread out across the continent. These components are owned, operated, and regulated by thousands of different entities. Power system operators work hard to assure safe and reliable service, but large outages occasionally happen. Given the nature of the system, there is simply no way that outages can be completely avoided, no matter how much time and money is devoted to such an effort. The system's reliability and resilience can be improved but never made perfect. Thus, system owners, operators, and regulators must prioritize their investments based on potential benefits. Enhancing the Resilience of the Nation's Electricity System focuses on identifying, developing, and implementing strategies to increase the power system's resilience in the face of events that can cause large-area, long-duration outages: blackouts that extend over multiple service areas and last several days or longer. Resilience is not just about lessening the likelihood that these outages will occur. It is also about limiting the scope and impact of outages when they do occur, restoring power rapidly afterwards, and learning from these experiences to better deal with events in the future.

When the Lights Went Out

When the Lights Went Out
Author: David E. Nye
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2010-01-29
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0262288338

Blackouts—whether they result from military planning, network failure, human error, or terrorism—offer snapshots of electricity's increasingly central role in American society. Where were you when the lights went out? At home during a thunderstorm? During the Great Northeastern Blackout of 1965? In California when rolling blackouts hit in 2000? In 2003, when a cascading power failure left fifty million people without electricity? We often remember vividly our time in the dark. In When the Lights Went Out, David Nye views power outages in America from 1935 to the present not simply as technical failures but variously as military tactic, social disruption, crisis in the networked city, outcome of political and economic decisions, sudden encounter with sublimity, and memories enshrined in photographs. Our electrically lit-up life is so natural to us that when the lights go off, the darkness seems abnormal. Nye looks at America's development of its electrical grid, which made large-scale power failures possible and a series of blackouts from military blackouts to the “greenout” (exemplified by the new tradition of “Earth Hour”), a voluntary reduction organized by environmental organizations. Blackouts, writes Nye, are breaks in the flow of social time that reveal much about the trajectory of American history. Each time one occurs, Americans confront their essential condition—not as isolated individuals, but as a community that increasingly binds itself together with electrical wires and signals.

Grid Down Reality Bites

Grid Down Reality Bites
Author: Bruce Hemming
Publisher: CreateSpace
Total Pages: 464
Release: 2011-08-01
Genre: Electromagnetic pulse
ISBN: 9781460980385

"Three small groups of people trying to stay sane and survive in a world controlled by chaos"--Cover, p. [4].

Terrorism and the Electric Power Delivery System

Terrorism and the Electric Power Delivery System
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 165
Release: 2012-11-25
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0309114047

The electric power delivery system that carries electricity from large central generators to customers could be severely damaged by a small number of well-informed attackers. The system is inherently vulnerable because transmission lines may span hundreds of miles, and many key facilities are unguarded. This vulnerability is exacerbated by the fact that the power grid, most of which was originally designed to meet the needs of individual vertically integrated utilities, is being used to move power between regions to support the needs of competitive markets for power generation. Primarily because of ambiguities introduced as a result of recent restricting the of the industry and cost pressures from consumers and regulators, investment to strengthen and upgrade the grid has lagged, with the result that many parts of the bulk high-voltage system are heavily stressed. Electric systems are not designed to withstand or quickly recover from damage inflicted simultaneously on multiple components. Such an attack could be carried out by knowledgeable attackers with little risk of detection or interdiction. Further well-planned and coordinated attacks by terrorists could leave the electric power system in a large region of the country at least partially disabled for a very long time. Although there are many examples of terrorist and military attacks on power systems elsewhere in the world, at the time of this study international terrorists have shown limited interest in attacking the U.S. power grid. However, that should not be a basis for complacency. Because all parts of the economy, as well as human health and welfare, depend on electricity, the results could be devastating. Terrorism and the Electric Power Delivery System focuses on measures that could make the power delivery system less vulnerable to attacks, restore power faster after an attack, and make critical services less vulnerable while the delivery of conventional electric power has been disrupted.

Blackout Warfare

Blackout Warfare
Author: Peter Pry
Publisher: Peter V Pry
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2020-09
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9781087906799

"Blackout Warfare" is the term used in this report to describe a revolutionary new way of warfare planned by Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran that is still little understood in the United States, but poses an imminent and existential threat to Western Civilization. These potential adversaries plan to use cyber-attacks, sabotage, and electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons in combination to blackout national electric grids to achieve quick and decisive victory. Blackout Warfare that paralyzes the U.S. electric grid and other life-sustaining critical infrastructures--communications, transportation, natural gas and petroleum, business and industry, food and water infrastructures, and the military--could kill most Americans. The EMP Commission estimates up to 90% of the U.S. population could die from a nationwide blackout lasting one year. The military would be paralyzed by a nationwide blackout, as CONUS military bases depend for 99% of their electricity upon the civilian electric grid. For the first time in the West, this report fights back against looming catastrophe by thinking about and planning for Blackout Warfare the way our potential adversaries do.

Living on the Grid

Living on the Grid
Author: William L. Thompson
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2016-05-21
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 149179044X

There’s probably a good chance that you’ve turned on your television, computer, or an appliance without giving much thought about the electric grid. But when there’s a power outage, it’s a different story. Suddenly, you’re asking yourself questions such as: What is the electric grid and who owns it? Who controls the grid and how is it controlled? What causes a grid blackout? What is the future of the grid? William L. Thompson, who retired from Dominion Virginia Power after thirty-eight years in the electric business, answers those questions and many more in this book for anyone curious about the electric grid and how it works. In plain, simple language, he reveals what goes on behind the scenes at grid control centers across the country. He also explains how electricity is generated through renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. He also examines the causes behind the largest blackout in United States history and how global warming and technological developments could permanently change Living on the Grid.